Eminent political scientist, former psephologist and political activist Yogendra Yadav speaks with The Wire on the astonishing victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra. He says that although many opinion polls gave an edge to the Mahayuti, what was surprising was the difference of 14 percentage points in vote shares of the BJP-led alliance and Congress-led Maha Vikash Aghadi – something that flattened all the conventional voting patterns of the state. He asks whether there was an "X factor" behind BJP's unprecedented win in the state.

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