Maharashtra Assembly elections, not Lok Sabha polls, will settle political scores
The Hindu
The horizon being gazed at by political parties in Maharashtra is the more local war for the State, which began after the last Assembly polls in 2019, when the then-united Shiv Sena walked out of the Mahayuthi or NDA in the State and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government
The battle for the Lok Sabha in Maharashtra, considered the most hard-fought in these polls, is being seen only as the percussor to the all-out war of the Assembly elections, to be held in less than six months after the General Elections.
The horizon being gazed at by political parties in Maharashtra is the more local war for the State, which began after the last Assembly polls in 2019, when the then-united Shiv Sena walked out of the Mahayuthi or NDA in the State and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the unlikely allies — the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
That unlikely combination of allies in the MVA redrew the political geography of the State most dramatically, upending support bases and creating grudge matches that are yet to reach their conclusion.
Two years ago, current Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, along with a large swathe of Shiv Sena MLAs and MPs split the party and brought down the MVA government. He got the chief minister’s chair, the party symbol of bow and arrow, and the party name of Shiv Sena (Balasaheb Thackeray).
A year before the General Elections, current Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar also split his party, the NCP, rebelling against his uncle and senior leader Sharad Pawar. With the party symbol going to the Ajit Pawar faction, the senior Pawar is in the same situation as 1999 when he launched the NCP — a new party and symbol just weeks before a new set of elections.
These splits have led to hard bargaining within alliances for shares of Lok Sabha seats.
In the MVA, the maximum number of seats were bagged by Shiv Sena (UBT), led by Uddhav Thackeray, which will be contesting 21 seats, with the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar) contesting on 10, and the Congress with 17 seats.
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