In Kovind's win, the Shiv Sena has everything to worry about

The BJP has 122 MLAs in the 288 member house. The Shiv Sena which is the alliance partner has 63 MLAs.

The huge victory margin with which Ram Nath Kovind won the Presidential election has sent out a strong message to the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. In the absence of a whip and secret ballot, it would never be known who cross voted in the Presidential election.

Incidentally the Kovind made gains in Maharashtra and other states where there was extensive cross voting. A total of 116 legislators are said to have crossed voted in the elections, the results of which were declared on Thursday.

In Maharashtra at least 24 legislators are said to have cross voted in favour of Kovind. It is still unclear whether it was the Congress or the NCP which cross voted in favour of Kovind.

However, the Shiv Sena has everything to worry about. The cross voting has clearly shown that the BJP can survive in the Maharashtra assembly without the support of the Shiv Sena.

The BJP has 122 MLAs in the 288 member house. The Shiv Sena which is the alliance partner has 63 MLAs. Now if one were to add the 24 MLAs who cross voted with the BJP's strength of 122, the number crosses the half way mark. The magic number in the Maharashtra assembly is 144 and if one were to do this new arithmetic, the number stands at 146, which is 2 above the half way mark.

OneIndia News