Maharashtra Elections 2024

The 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on November 20, 2024, with the ruling Mahayuti alliance emerging victorious securing a majority of 235 seats in the 288-member of the 15th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Devendra Fadnavis, a senior BJP leader, was sworn in for his third term as Chief Minister on December 5, 2024, 12 days after the election results were announced on November 23. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the largest number of 132 seats in the Maha Yuti alliance, followed by Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena with 57 seats and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction securing 41. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, faced a significant loss by winning only 46 assembly seats. In the opposition coalition, Congress won 16 seats, Shiv Sena (UBT) 20 seats, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP faction 10 seats. For over six decades, this is the first instance a ruling party has won so spectacularly that there is no other party claiming to be in opposition.

There were at least about 4136 contestants in the elections and out of this the election witnessed a 66.05% voter turnout which was said to be the highest since 1995. A total of 4,136 candidates contested the elections. The 2024 elections were heavily influenced by political realignments following the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis, which saw Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde rebel against Uddhav Thackeray, leading to the collapse of the MVA government. Shinde subsequently formed a government with the BJP, taking over as Chief Minister. Later, in 2023, Ajit Pawar’s split from the NCP further strengthened the Maha Yuti alliance.

The campaign for the 2024 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections witnessed an intense battle between the ruling Maha Yuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The Maha Yuti, focused on governance achievements and welfare schemes like Majhi Ladki Bahin for women empowerment. Leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted economic growth and infrastructure development under their "double-engine" government model. The opposition MVA, emphasized issues like social justice, unemployment, and a caste-based census. Among many allegations, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi blamed the BJP for not standing for the backward communities, while Uddhav Thackeray held Eknath Shinde responsible for abandoning Shiv Sena as it used to be earlier. Sharad Pawar expressed his concerns for the strong dominance of BJP and emphasized the significance of having a united front.

BOOM has debunked several posts with misinformation surrounding the assembly election. These posts included AI generated audio voice clones to fake news graphics. BOOM has fact-checked a viral photo claiming that a Pakistani flag was visible during a roadshow by Ajit Pawar and Nawab Malik in Mumbai. BOOM found out the flag in the background is an Islamic religious flag commonly seen during religious events like Muharram or Eid Milad-un-Nabi. The Pakistani flag has the white band which is missing in the flag shown on the viral photo. The photo was from a November 7, 2024, roadshow in Shivaji Nagar, Mankhurd, and was confirmed through Nawab Malik’s original post. BOOM has debunked similar misinformation in the past.

BOOM fact-checked a viral Pudhari News graphic claiming that Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut stated his party would provide ₹3,000 to women and ₹6,000 to Muslim women under a nutritional scheme if Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister. BOOM found that the claim is false. The graphic is fabricated, and Pudhari News confirmed to BOOM that it does not use the font shown in the viral image.

BOOM fact-check a viral video claiming to show Sanjay Raut saying that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will give a clean chit to Dawood Ibrahim if it comes back to power in Maharashtra. BOOM found that the viral video has been edited to misrepresent Sanjay Raut's statement. In the original video, the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader was targeting the ruling BJP government in response to a reporter's question about SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch reportedly getting a clean chit. Raut stated that the BJP government would even go as far as giving Dawood Ibrahim a clean chit, emphasizing his criticism of the ruling party.

BOOM fact-checked a photo claiming to show a political ad by BJP urging voters to elect the Mahayuti alliance for the "progress of Gujarat" instead of Maharashtra. BOOM found that the viral photo is digitally altered. The original ad, featuring Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, promotes the BJP's slogan for Maharashtra’s progress. A closer look at the viral image reveals that the word "Gujarat" has been digitally added, as it visibly stands out from the rest of the text.

In November 2024, BOOM debunked misinformation around Maharashtra assembly election and US elections. A total of 62.6% of the fact-checks conducted by BOOM that month involved false content, followed by fabricated AI-generated misinformation. Maharashtra Assembly elections accounted for 18.7% of the total fact-checks.