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Maharashtra Elections 2024: In about ten days from now, people of Maharashtra will elect state's new assembly. Voting will take place in 288 seats of the legislative Assembly in a single phase on November 20. The votes will be counted on November 23.
The battle Maharashtra is largely bipolar between the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the ruling Mahayuti banner. The Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP ( Sharad Pawar ) and the Congress are part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
There are complexities within these alliances posing challenges for both the ruling Mahayuti and the MVA. The Haryana Momentum The election is Maharashtra assume significace for many reasons. It will be first assembly poll held after Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP retained Haryana while the National Conference -Congress alliance bagged Jammu and Kashmir where assembly polls were held first time in ten years. In the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the BJP lost ground in Haryana as well as in Maharashtra. The BJP won only five of 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana.
It had won all 10 seats in 2019 general elections. In Mahrashtra, the BJP won just nine of the 28 seats it contested, as against 23 of the 25 seats it contested in 2019 general elections. But the BJP made a strong comeback in Haryana, the first assembly election after general elections.
The saffron won 48 of the 90 seats in Haryana defying all exit polls. The Congress bagged 37 seats. In Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference won 42 seats in the 90-member house.
The Congress 6, and the BJP 29 setas. Clearly, the results in Maharashtra will test BJP's momentum post Haryana win. The elections in Maharashtra, will also be another test for INDIA bloc, since major players in the opposition alliance are in the fray here.
BJP Expanding Influence The BJP's fight in Maharashtra is not directly with the Congress as much as it is with regional players, according to political analysts. For quite sometime now, the saffron party has been keen to consolidate its position in Maharashtra, where it has faced challenges from regional players. The upcoming election will test BJP's ability to ability to stay in power with the help of regional parties – the Shiv Sena and NCP factions, in this case.
A victory in Maharashtra would certainly bolster the BJP’s reach beyond its traditional northern strongholds. The five years of the outgoing assembly were marred by political turmoil. The state saw three different chief ministers.
Two major parties – the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – saw splits leading to alliances in power and in the opposition. The upcoming polls are the first assembly elections in the state after the two major parties split. The outcomes will reveal which faction holds sway over the popular base.
Clearly, the November 20 Maharashtra election is not just about forming the government, a larger issue of redemption and supremacy of warring factions of the Shiv Sena and the NCP is also at stake in this electoral battlle. The outcome of the Maharashtra election will also indicate the influence of local leaders in the state. For example, the election is also a prestige battle for Sharad Pawar, the 84-year-old war horse from the state.
The election will decide the future of leader like Uddhav Thackeray, the former chief minister, who has the burden of carrying forward his father Bal Thackeray's legacy after Eknath Shinde, his fellow Shiv Sena leader, revolted, split the Shiv Sena, and topped the Uddhav-led MVA government in Maharashtra in 2020. The election is also being keenly watched for it will also decided what lies ahead for leaders Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Their popularity and ability to rally their supporters could be decisive in a fragmented political landscape.
Maharashtra, being one of India’s wealthiest states, is faced with unique economic challenges, including agrarian distress and unemployment. The outcome of the assembly election will also decide how these issues will be tackled by the next government. Among other issues, a emand for Maratha reservation s in government jobs and education has been a major issue thsi election.
Maratha community constitutes about 28 per cent of the state’s population and play a role in deciding the outcome..
