The INDIA alliance on Tuesday decided to approach the Supreme Court over scam that happened in Maharashtra assembly elections to make BJP led alliance win.

The decision was announced after a meeting between NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and noted lawyer and Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi here.

Prashant Sudamrao Jagtap, President, NCP(SP) Pune, says, “In today’s meeting (at NCP-SP chief Sharad Pawar’s residence), we have decided to appear in Supreme Court as INDIA alliance regarding the scam that happened in Maharashtra assembly elections to make BJP led alliance win… All the parties within the INDIA alliance in Maharashtra will go to the Court. We have faith in the Supreme Court and we expect that the SC will pronounce order in our favour and against the scam.”

Pawar has been meeting leaders of his party who lost the assembly elections.

The INDIA bloc has claimed that it lost the elections in Maharashtra due to alleged manipulation of EVMs in favour of the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition.

In the elections held last month, the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition won 235 seats in the 288-member House while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance bagged 46.

During the meeting, Kejriwal flagged concerns related to voter lists in Delhi where assembly elections are due early next year.

Mahayuti govt wins trust vote in Maharashtra assembly

Five days after assuming office, the Mahayuti alliance government in Maharashtra led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday comfortably won a confidence vote in the state assembly. The trust motion, tabled by Shiv Sena MLA Uday Samant and others, was passed by a voice vote on the last day of the three-day special assembly session. Some opposition members were absent when the trust motion was approved in the assembly. They included Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray.

 On December 4, when Governor C P Radhakrishnan handed Fadnavis the letter inviting him to form the government, he had stipulated in the document that the BJP leader must clear the trust motion in the House in 21 days, sources said. Speaker Rahul Narwekar, elected unopposed for a second straight term earlier in the day, announced that the trust motion has been approved by the newly-constituted House. The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP ‘Mahayuti’ coalition has a commanding majority of 230 seats in the 288-member assembly, where the majority mark is 145. “The confidence motion has been passed with a majority,” Narwekar said.

Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Thursday with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies. The senior BJP leader later revealed that he had garnered good wishes from all quarters — including political rivals Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

“They responded well. They congratulated me,” he told News18 after a telephonic exchange with the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders.

Most prominent opposition leaders were conspicuous by their absence at the glittering event and Fadnavis also reiterated allegations Thackeray had “backstabbed” the BJP following the 2019 elections.

The assertions came even as Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut claimed that Shinde was compelled to take oath as Deputy CM because the BJP top brass planned to go ahead with the swearing-in if he continued being “stubborn”. Fadnavis however dismissed the assertion — telling News18 that he ‘never’ reacted to statements made by the MP.

“I do react If Uddhav Thackeray ji says something. Sanjay Raut has the experience on how to end a political party. …We have a full majority, so I don’t think Uddhav Thackeray is needed…He has put a green chadar on him, I am sure his workers feel suffocated,” Fadnavis added.

He also reiterated earlier comments about ‘vote jihad’ and lambasted Pawar and Thackeray for “bowing down” in front of 17 demands made by the Ulema Board.

The Mahayuti alliance had secured a landslide victory in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections. The BJP emerged as the single largest party with 132 seats while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena garnered 57 seats. Meanwhile the Ajit Pawar-led NCP secured 41 seats in the state Assembly.  The polls came as a severe blow for the Opposition alliance with the Congress managing to win only 16 seats, while its ally Shiv Sena (UBT) won 20 seats. The NCP (SP) secured a mere 10 seats.

(With inputs from agencies)

Days after Maha Vikas Aghadi’s crushing defeat in the Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024, state Congress President Nana Patole stepped down from the post, reported NDTV on Monday.

He stepped down from the post after Congress won just 16 out of 103 seats it had contested in the state polls. Apart from Congress’s dismal performance across the state, Patole even struggled to perform well in his constituency, Sakoli, where he managed to win with a thin margin of just 208 votes.

Nana Patole ensured Congress’s promising performance in Lok Sabha polls

Congress’s disappointing performance in Maharashtra Assembly polls starkly contrasts with the Lok Sabha Elections, where the grand old party received an overwhelming response in the state. The party had performed well in the state during parliamentary elections in the first half of the year under Nana Patole’s leadership. The party had won 13 out of 17 seats it contested. The party had won the highest number of seats among all Maha Vikas Aghadi allies.

He took charge of Maharashtra Congress in 2021 after replacing Balasaheb Thorat. Due to Congress’s promising performance in Lok Sabha, Patole had bargained hard during seat-sharing talks for Maharashtra Assembly Polls. Congress’s stern demand led to friction between other MVA allies, including Shiv Sena UBT and NCP (Sharad Pawar).

Maharashtra Assembly Elections

The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance secured 230 seats out of the total 288 constituencies in the Maharashtra Assembly Election results announced on Saturday, November 23.

The BJP regained its strength in the state after a disappointing performance in Lok Sabha elections. BJP bagged 132 seats, whereas other Mahayuti alliance parties, including NCP, Shiv Sena, won 41 seats.

The result was equally shocking for MVA, where Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray suffered a rude jolt for their respective parties. Shiv Sena (UBT) led by Uddhav Thackeray won 20 seats, Congress secured 16 and Sharad Pawar led NCP (SP) won only 10 seats.

The Shiv Sena Bhavan in Mumbai stands deserted during vote counting for the Maharashtra Assembly election on November 23.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “Men are ruled by toys.” As the cursed favourite toy, the State of Maharashtra has seen more than its fair share of attention from the country’s central leadership. After five years of a revolving door of leadership, Maharashtra will now enter a phase of more stable leadership—or so one hopes.

The maximum metropolis Mumbai has always been a conurbation of contrasts: tall skyscrapers looking out at a sea of flat blue tin roofs and slum clusters. In the last few years, the State as well has begun to show the same sharp inequities its capital does. Maharashtra’s per capita GDP has seen a slide, moving from second to sixth-highest among States in the last decade. Ironically, even as the State moves lower, its rich and elite rise. The Hurun India Rich List 2024 documents the State-wise distribution of India’s richest people with the highest net worth. Maharashtra continues to hold pole position there, almost doubling its entries from 248 in 2020 to a stunning 470 entries in 2024. Unsurprising, as the State has consistently boasted of the highest number of wealthy individuals.

During the Lok Sabha election, the Mahayuti lost five of the six Lok Sabha seats in the “onion belt” of Dindori, Nashik, Beed, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, and Dhule seats. The region accounts for over a third of the country’s onion production. A complete ban on onion exports triggered anger among onion farmers, and they voted with their feet. In this round of the Assembly election, the belt has seen more scattered outcomes—a reflection of the BJP’s performance in another agrarian State, Haryana, and the fact that the agrarian crisis and its solution is playing out quite differently in the minds of rural voters. There is swift retribution when policy decisions are unpopular but it is also clear there is no appealing or cogent enough alternative yet that presents itself.

Also Read | Maharashtra election: How will Muslims and Dalits vote?

The Congress party tried to rally support on the near collapse of soybean prices, promising legal status for a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a price of Rs.7,000 per quintal for soybean. The message and the promise have clearly not hit home. Farmers of Maharashtra want to see why and how a different political outcome will address their needs.

It is a lesson the opposition will have to reflect on quite deeply. As things stand, the Legislative Assembly may not have a Leader of Opposition for the first time simply because none of the opposition parties has managed to win 10 per cent of the total number of seats required to claim that post.

Were critical pressure points different?

Not at all. A pre-election Lokniti survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) ahead of the election in Maharashtra found that inflation was a key issue for voters. Ditto with unemployment. According to the government’s own data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey for April-June 2024, the unemployment rate for youths between 15 and 29 years in urban areas was 16.8 per cent. It has certainly not helped that large job-creating projects have been whisked away from the State and handed to Gujarat instead. The Vedanta-Foxconn project loss was followed by the Tata-Airbus aircraft project being shifted to Gujarat.

Not helpful for a State that is currently saddled with a fiscal deficit gap of over Rs.2 lakh crore for 2024-25. What is worse, even more debt is being slapped onto the State’s finances. In October, the State Cabinet approved an interest-free subordinate loan of Rs.1,354 crore for the Orange Gate-Marine Drive tunnel and a similar loan of Rs.2,417 crore for the Thane-Borivali tunnel. Hurriedly stitched together ahead of the election, the Ladki Bahin Yojana comes with an annual burden of Rs.46,000 crore.

Why did Maharashtra vote the way it did?

While granular analysis of flawed and delayed seat-sharing agreements between the Opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on the one hand and caste equations on the other will add more perspective, there are two big lessons for the opposition.

One is that the average voter is no longer interested in or beguiled by “personality politics”. The Thackerays continued with the approach of avenging the personal affront they had faced from their ouster even as the BJP quickly realised that a hyper-local election such as Maharashtra needs specific and concrete solutions. The first step was to emulate Madhya Pradesh’s example of the Ladli Behna scheme and quickly convert it into the Ladki Bahin Yojana to promise cash in the hands of the State’s poor women.

The second, is that there is very little patience any more for the “long view”. Just as the onion belt voted to show their anger in the general election, they have now chosen what looks and feels like the best immediate and localised solution to their problems. A sly nod to the good old communalism card also helped with slogans like “Batenge Toh Katenge” stitching up a “combo offer” of cash in hand, savvy caste strategy, and the promise of safety in religious numbers.

Also Read | Maharashtra election: Will the promise of mega infrastructure projects win NDA votes?

There is another takeaway for the country’s political opposition. State election results, such as in Haryana and Maharashtra, are met with complete shock. This is not what they expected to see at all, say opposition leaders; this is not how they had read the room. Local reporters, however, shared with simple confidence a week before the State went to election: not only was the Mahayuti going to be the clear winner, the BJP was going to emerge as the single largest party in the State. Where has such a deep disconnect grown between political organisations and the people they want to represent? How much time, effort, and space is being provided to listen to voters and to reflect that in intention and action.

For the State of Maharashtra, binaries will continue to exist. Dharavi will live in the same city as Antilia, plummeting crop prices will live in the same State as surging stock market returns, and deprivation will continue to live alongside unimaginable wealth. But in the dust and rubble of an increasingly familiar and heightened communal and cash pitch pre-election, the people of Maharashtra will now pick up the pieces. Of the voting decisions they made, the narrative they chose and the future that stands before them.

Mitali Mukherjee is Director of the Journalist Programmes at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. She is a political economy journalist with more than two decades of experience in TV, print and digital journalism. Mitali has co-founded two start-ups that focussed on civil society and financial literacy and her key areas of interest are gender and climate change.

Three decades ago, Mumbai (then Bombay) witnessed India’s worst communal riots. For almost a month in 1992, flames of hatred engulfed the country’s financial capital—an unprecedented event that has not been repeated since. Even in those dark times, the city’s politicians of all hues kept certain institutions above the fray. The Siddhivinayak temple, home to Lord Ganesha, remained one such sacred line they wouldn’t cross.

Over the years, the Hindu god has become synonymous with Mumbai’s identity. But this election did not spare even the deity from being dragged into the dirty world of petty communal propaganda. As soon as campaigning for the Maharashtra Assembly election ended at 6 pm on November 18, hundreds of messages with communal content flooded all social media platforms. One such post by @MrSinha_, an account on the social media platform X, mentioned the Waqf board laying claim to the Siddhivinayak temple. This account is considered close to the BJP and often propagates material aligned to the right wing.

Opposition leaders criticised this sudden push of communal propaganda. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray called it “a desperate and shameless attempt of BJP” as “the party is seeing the defeat in the elections”. His party also made a complaint to the Election Commission. Later, @MrSinha_ deleted that tweet but the damage had already been done.

The 2024 Assembly election has been perhaps the worst ever when it comes to communal propaganda in the State’s history. The propaganda started building up immediately after the 2024 Lok Sabha election results. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya made several posts on X on the lines of “Vote Jehad”. According to him, the Muslim community voted tactically in Maharashtra’s parliamentary seats to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (also known as Mahayuti). He wrote that the BJP faced defeat in the Dhule Lok Sabha constituency because out of its six Assembly segments, one (Malegaon Central) voted with a bumper margin in favour of the Congress even as the rest gave a lead to the BJP candidate, helping the Congress surge ahead. Malegaon Central is a Muslim-dominated constituency.

Also Read | Subdued campaign, sharp divisions: Maharashtra’s electoral battle over jobs, caste, and ‘betrayal’

Somaiya was later joined by other BJP leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the party’s face in Maharashtra. In one of his rallies, Fadnavis even said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)—the Opposition alliance comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Sharad Pawar, the Congress, and other small parties—won 18 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra due to ”vote jehad”. Meanwhile, the Election Commission, which had been seen as a “lame duck” amidst this communal campaign, woke up one day to say that the term “vote jehad” would not be tolerated.

‘Batenge toh Katenge’ to ‘Ek Hai toh Safe Hai’

By then, another phrase had already taken root in the public discourse: “Batenge toh Katenge” (if we are divided then we will be slaughtered). A slogan first given by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP leader Yogi Adityanath, this was adopted by most party leaders in Maharashtra. When he was in Maharashtra for the election campaign, Adityanath repeated this slogan. Although this aimed to consolidate the Hindu voters and polarise the election on communal lines, it was also bold, provocative rhetoric.

Also, there are 47 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra where the ruling Mahayuti (BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP) cannot afford to antagonise the Muslim community. Of these, 12 constituencies are dominated by the BJP whereas 8 are by the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and 27 by the NCP (Ajit Pawar). So, as “Batenge toh Katenge” started gaining traction, reactions from Muslim community leaders started coming in from these constituencies. As a result, Ajit Pawar was the first leader to say that there was “no need to bring this narrative from North India to Maharashtra”. In an interview with Frontline, he reiterated his stance, saying that Maharashtra is a progressive state and such things do not work there.

Not just Ajit Pawar, but even the BJP MLC Pankaja Munde said the same thing in her interview with Frontline. As a leader from Beed district with pockets of influence in the Marathwada and West Vidarbha regions, she is aware that Muslims are a decisive factor in many places. After Pawar and Munde, former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Chavan, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP, spoke out against the slogan. His daughter, Srijaya, is making her political debut from the family’s traditional Bhokar Assembly constituency in Nanded, which has some 60,000 Muslim voters. Chavan’s silence would have affected his daughter’s chances.

The BJP’s national leadership was sensing this discontent among their own party and alliance leaders. So, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a new slogan in “Ek Hai toh Safe Hai” (we are safe if we stay united), a soft version of “Batenge toh Katenge”.  Although it avoids harsh language, its undertone is just as communal. Defending this is easier for the Mahayuti, as was evident in what Ajit Pawar had to say: “It is like Hum Sab Ek Hai or Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas. There is no communal thing in [it].” The BJP then literally bombarded this slogan from all possible mediums, be it full-page advertisements in newspapers, radio, television, and social media. Although the wording might seem unifying, the slant of the campaign does not change the effect on people’s minds.

Shades of Islamophobia

Besides this, the BJP also raised the issue of the “demands” made by Islamic scholar and All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) spokesperson Sajjad Nomani. BJP leader Pravin Darekar said that MVA leaders had accepted Nomani’s letter stating 17 demands, which included banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Later, it turned out that there was no such mention in the actual letter by the AIMPLB.

Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar also posted a video on X where Nomani was seen talking about Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray as “soldiers of jehad”. But it emerged later that the clip was doctored and Nomani was actually replying to the BJP’s “vote jehad” campaign, saying that Thackeray or Pawar’s battle is for their own interest and that they cannot be the soldiers for the Islamic cause.

Also Read | BJP returns to Ma-Dha-Va formula as Maratha-OBC polarisation threatens its Assembly prospects

After the campaign ended, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane posted a newspaper clip on X wherein Uddhav Thackeray was quoted for apologising to Muslims for the Shiv Sena’s participation in the 1992 riots, which was shared by many across social media platforms. Even some journalists also shared it but had to delete it after Aaditya Thackeray strongly objected to it. However, Rane is yet to do so.

Another fake claim involving Waqf land said that the Waqf board has demanded 80 per cent of the Pune municipality’s land as their property and that many such properties across the State, which are a matter of pride for one or other Hindu caste or community, were being targeted in such a manner. Only the election results would tell how much of this propaganda finds acceptance among Maharashtra’s voters. But this vicious campaign has deeply disturbed Maharashtra’s social fabric, once again.

Vinod Shirsath, editor of the Marathi weekly magazine Sadhana, put the situation in perspective. “Election comes and goes every five years. Society will always be there. To win just one election, if political forces started tearing down the fabric of peace and harmony then it might eventually lead to communal chaos. There is no return from that point. Earlier there was at least this sense in political leadership, but now even the last pole of political sense has uprooted in this election,” he said.

महाराष्ट्र की 288 विधानसभा सीटों के लिए 20 नवंबर को वोटिंग होनी है. सोमवार को चुनाव प्रचार का आखिरी दिन था. इस दौरान एनसीपी नेता शरद पवार ने पीएम नरेंद्र मोदी और बीजेपी पर हमला बोला. पुणे में एक जनसभा को संबोधित करते हुए शरद पवार ने कहा कि लोकसभा चुनाव के दौरान लोगों ने बता दिया कि महाराष्ट्र क्या है. लोकसभा में मोदी को महाराष्ट्र की जनता ने नकारा है. उन्होंने कहा कि पीएम मोदी को जनता को हिसाब देना होगा.

पीएम मोदी पर बोला हमला

शरद पवार ने पीएम मोदी पर निशाना साधते हुए कहा कि मुझे नहीं पता कि देश के प्रधानमंत्री क्या चाहते हैं? लोकसभा में बीजेपी ने 400 सांसदों की मांग की थी. मैं समझ नहीं पा रहा कि देश चलाने के लिए 400 सांसद क्यों चाहिए. दरअसल, मोदी देश का संविधान बदलना चाहते थे. इसीलिए उन्होंने ये नारा दिया.

शरद पवार ने कहा कि प्रधानमंत्री मोदी देश के हैं. उन्हें ये समझना होगा कि वे सिर्फ गुजरात के नही हैं. उन्हें हिसाब देना होगा. शरद पवार ने कहा कि आज हालात ये हो गए हैं कि महाराष्ट्र के उद्योग गुजरात शिफ्ट हो रहे हैं. उन्होंने कहा कि विधानसभा के चुनाव में भी जनता बीजेपी को सबक सिखाएगी.

यह भी पढ़ें: महाराष्ट्र की 288 विधानसभा सीटों के लिए प्रचार थमा, जानें 2019 से कितना अलग है इस बार का चुनाव

शरद पवार ने वोटर्स की तारीफ करते हुए कहा कि आपने मोदी पर लगाम कसना संभव कर दिया है. हमारे तीस सांसद चुने गए हैं, जिनके पास ताकत है. पीएम मोदी पर सवाल उठाते हुए उन्होंने कहा कि बीजेपी वाले लोगों का ध्यान भटकाने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं. मुझे बहन का सम्मान करने में कोई आपत्ति नहीं है. लेकिन बहन की हालत क्या है? दो साल में कितनी महिलाओं के साथ दुर्व्यवहार हुआ? क्या आप इसके आंकड़े जानते हैं? 

बता दें कि महाराष्ट्र की 288 विधानसभा सीटों पर होने वाले चुनाव को लेकर सोमवार को प्रचार थम गया. सत्तारूढ़ महायुति गठबंधन ने जहां सत्ता बनाए रखने का दावा किया तो वहीं महा विकास अघाड़ी (MVA) गठबंधन ने मजबूती से वापसी की उम्मीद जताई है. वोटिंग 20 नवंबर को होनी है और नतीजे 23 नवंबर को आएंगे.

No election in India is ever dull. While politicians may strategically modulate the intensity of their campaigns, the country’s elections consistently captivate public attention. That said, the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly election proved quieter than many political observers anticipated. This subdued tone was particularly surprising given the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) recent setback in the State’s Lok Sabha elections and the results in Haryana, which led many to expect an aggressive campaign from the BJP. However, the campaign that concluded on November 18 maintained a notably low profile.

This restraint was strategic. During the Lok Sabha campaign, the BJP discovered that attacks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Uddhav Thackeray or Sharad Pawar triggered strong grassroots backlash. While such criticism during national elections, where neither Maharashtra leader was a prime ministerial candidate, proved costly, the stakes were even higher in the Assembly election. Given Thackeray and Pawar’s fifty-year legacy as state leaders, attacking them risked even stronger electoral repercussions. Consequently, the BJP redirected its focus toward the Congress, centering its advertising campaign on the “Why no Congress?” theme. This strategy was particularly relevant as both national parties competed head-to-head in 74 Assembly seats, where victory could determine who forms the government.

The Congress recognised this strategy a bit late. Despite its alliance with NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, their first joint rally in Mumbai occurred only on November 6 (the election was announced on October 15). The Congress campaign gained momentum after November 14, the party leadership was involved in Priyanka Gandhi’s by-election in Wayanad, Kerala.

Also Read | BJP returns to Ma-Dha-Va formula as Maratha-OBC polarisation threatens its Assembly prospects

During this period, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar led the MVA’s campaign charge, while the Mahayuti (Maharashtra’s NDA) was spearheaded by Modi, supported by Shah, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar. At his rallies, Modi talked about the government’s welfare schemes while introducing the communal slogan “Ek Hai To Safe Hai”. This followed the BJP’s post-Lok Sabha narrative about Muslim bloc voting, termed “Vote Jehad”, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s controversial slogan “Batenge To Katenge” (Divided we perish), which he repeated at Maharashtra rallies.

These polarising tactics faced internal resistance, with NCP (Ajit Pawar) and BJP leaders such as Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan arguing that such North Indian-style communal politics were unsuitable for Maharashtra’s development-focused electorate. Recognising this discomfort among party and alliance leaders, Modi crafted the more nuanced “Ek Hai to Safe Hai” (Together, we are safe) slogan. While the BJP leaders equated this with “We Are All One,” its communal undertones remained evident, effectively delivering the party’s intended message to voters.

While the BJP pushed a Hindu-Muslim narrative, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders reframed the electoral battle along sub-nationalist lines. They highlighted Maharashtra’s industrial exodus to Gujarat as a primary issue of “injustice to Maharashtra”. Leaders across the alliance, from Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi to Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, consistently cited specific industries that relocated from Maharashtra to Gujarat in recent years. They noted that these industrial shifts could have generated 5,00,000 jobs, an important point given Maharashtra’s unemployment challenges. The MVA portrayed this as Gujarat, aided by the central government, depriving Maharashtrian youth of employment opportunities.

Recognising unemployment’s centrality to voters’ concerns, the MVA’s manifesto promised 2,50,000 government jobs within six months and 1.2 million private sector positions. Meanwhile, the Mahayuti government’s Ladaki Bahin scheme, providing Rs.1,500 monthly to women aged 21-65, became their campaign cornerstone. This direct benefit transfer program arguably kept Mahayuti competitive in Mumbai, particularly following their 31-17 Lok Sabha setback. The MVA countered by promising Rs.3,000 monthly payments, along with free education through graduation, Rs.2.5 million health insurance coverage, and minimum support prices (MSP) 50 per cent above current levels.

The MVA’s boldest economic promise concerned soybean pricing. With market prices falling to Rs.4,000 per quintal against an MSP of Rs.4,892, the MVA pledged Rs.7,000 per quintal if elected. According to senior journalist Suhas Sardeshmukh from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, this promise could influence voting patterns across 70 assembly constituencies in Marathwada, Vidarbha, and North Maharashtra. Though Mahayuti promised Rs.6,000 per quintal, their current position in government made farmers sceptical of this commitment.

Caste dynamics, which was central to Maharashtra’s Lok Sabha campaign, remained prominent in the Assembly election as well. The Maratha community’s reservation demands, particularly their leader’s push for inclusion in the Kunbi category of Other Backward Classes (OBC), has antagonised OBCs, especially in Marathwada. The BJP sought to consolidate non-Maratha Hindu support, particularly after reservation movement leader Manoj Jarange urged his supporters to oppose the BJP and Mahayuti. This caste-based polarisation could significantly impact 95 Assembly seats. The relative strength of Maratha versus non-Maratha consolidation will likely prove decisive in determining election outcomes.

Also Read | Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024: The talking heads

Maharashtra politics underwent dramatic changes after Uddhav Thackeray’s government fell in June 2022, splitting Shiv Sena into two factions. Thackeray has since campaigned heavily on the issue of “Gaddari” (betrayal). Sharad Pawar’s NCP faced a similar fate, with the Election Commission granting party symbols to rebel groups—a decision both leaders portrayed as an affront to Maharashtra’s pride. The “Gaddari” narrative gained renewed prominence in these Assembly election, with both Thackeray and Sharad Pawar urging voters to defeat the “traitors”. This family drama reached its peak in Baramati, where Sharad Pawar fielded his grandson Yugendra Pawar—Ajit Pawar’s nephew—against Ajit himself, openly calling for Ajit’s defeat on grounds of betrayal.

Against the backdrop of competitive welfare promises and growing caste and religious divisions, the campaign’s quality deteriorated significantly. The rhetoric employed by both local and State-level leaders departed from Maharashtra’s traditional political culture of mutual respect and warmth. While every leader invokes Yashwantrao Chavan, Maharashtra’s first Chief Minister, they seem to have forgotten his crucial message from the 1962 election campaign: “Elections are the soul of democracy. Elections give leaders an opportunity to introspect and present their vision. Elections are also times for people’s education at large. Leaders must take this opportunity to educate the people with their plans.”

The 2024 Assembly election emerges as perhaps the most crucial since 1962, occurring at a time when Maharashtra faces declining industrial output, deteriorating infrastructure, and erosion of political dignity. And voters witnessed mostly personal attacks and vague promises rather than substantive debate. The election battle appeared neck-and-neck, and campaigns from all sides lacked innovation and fresh ideas. Now, Maharashtra’s 98 million voters must now make their decision based on this lacklustre campaign season

Ajit Pawar says there is “absolutely” no chance of him rejoining his uncle Sharad Pawar in the future.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar politically broke away from his uncle Sharad Pawar almost a year ago. His claims on the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and its symbol were accepted by the Election Commission but the matter is now with the Supreme Court. He contested as a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Lok Sabha election and could win one seat out of four. This time, in the State Assembly election, Ajit’s party is contesting 55 seats. He believes that the Mahayuti has improved its election position in the last four months and is going to win this election. He spoke to Frontline during his campaign in Marathwada. Excerpts.

Also Read | No need for ‘Batenge toh Katenge’ narrative in Maharashtra, focus should be on development: Pankaja Munde

PM Modi being felicitated by State CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis during the launch and laying the foundation stone of various projects, worth more than Rs 29,400 crores, in Mumbai in July 2024.
| Photo Credit:
ANI

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Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday hinted at retiring from politics. The senior politician said that he had fought elections 14 times and stressed the need to hand over responsibility to the new generation.

Pawar made the remark during his visit to Baramati to campaign for party candidate and grandson Yugendra Pawar, who will take on his uncle Ajit Pawar in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls.

Pawar stated that after completing his Rajya Sabha tenure, he would consider whether to leave his parliamentary position.

“I am not in power. I am in Rajya Sabha and the last one and a half years are left. I have already contested 14 elections. How many more shall I contest? Every time you have made me win the elections. I should stop somewhere. A new generation should be brought in,” reported ANI, quoting Pawar.

The former chief minister said that he would continue to do social work and would not need any elections for that, adding, “I will not contest in the Lok Sabha. I will not contest any election.”

Pawar’s Rajya Sabha tenure will be completed in 2026.

Meanwhile, addressing a public meeting in Shirsuphal, Pawar acknowledged Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s contribution to Baramati but asserted that the region needs new leadership for its development for the next three decades.

“Now, it’s time to prepare for the future. We need to groom leadership that will work for the next 30 years,” the former Union minister said, adding that everyone should get an opportunity, and he had never held anyone back.

In an apparent dig at Ajit Pawar, he said if someone keeps saying he will take everything, people may not say anything but will disapprove of it.

Pawar further said that though he hadn’t come to ask for votes recently, the people of Baramati have never disappointed him.