Robin Sharma, the campaign strategist of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, told NDTV today that the Lok Sabha election results had spurred them to spruce up their act and get governance and the message about it shipshape before the assembly election was announced. 

"The fear of loss motivated us to work hard, make course correction and do whatever was needed to bring the alliance back on track," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview. It left no room for complacency also ensured that the ruling alliance had dealt with the tough questions when the MVA was bickering over seat share and the all-important question of who would be the Chief Minister.

Consequently, "We were ahead in comparison to the MVA in terms of planning, preparedness, candidates, campaign strategy," he said. 

He attributed the victory to the role played by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, saying it was "all about his hard work. He rolled out campaigns that really benefited people. He also campaigned in seats where the BJP and Shiv Sena were contesting, ensuring that their alliance is properly recognised by people".

Asked if the Ladki Behen proved to be the X factor for the landslide win of the ruling alliance, he said, "Definitely... it gave a fillip to the campaign".

"This is because Ladki Behen was not just an announcement, they received Rs 7,500 in their account during some big festival," he said.  

"We have seen the data of how these women have started spending this money on themselves, taking care of themselves. Especially women who are suffering from anaemia. Involvement in schools have gone up and they have started saving money for themselves... So there is a lot of trust that we will deliver," he said. 

"This is the first time women were receiving such money in Maharashtra. So it definitely helped us," he added.

Mahayuthi -- the ruling alliance of Mr Shinde's Sena, Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP -- are ahead on 236 of Maharashtra's 288 seats.

The Opposition MVA - the Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar's faction of Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress -- are ahead on just 48 seats.