Mumbai: The Maharashtra Assembly election is shaping into a dramatic spectacle, with uncertainty and last-minute manoeuvring casting a shadow over the campaign. The ruling alliance and opposition front are locked in a tightrope walk, leaving voters in the dark about the final lineup of candidates and seat allocations.
The ruling Mahayuti alliance, a patchwork of parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and Ajit Pawar’s faction of the NCP, has yet to announce its candidates for nine key seats, despite the deadline for nominations approaching. The BJP, initially aiming for 150 seats, has revised its target to 146, leaving four seats for smaller ally partners, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, the Yuva Swabhiman Party, and Jan Surajya Shakti Paksha Republican Party of India (Athavale). However, two of those allies have now joined the Shiv Sena’s list, adding to the confusion.
Also, the Shinde faction has expanded its candidate list, adding 15 more to the previously announced 65, bringing the total to 80, including Shaina NC. Similar to the BJP, the Shiv Sena has allocated two of its seats to smaller parties, giving one each to the Jan Suraj Party and the Rajashri Shahuprakash Aghadi.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which has already announced a disparate number of seats, is still grappling with seat sharing. The alliance, comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP, has yet to finalise its candidates for 16 seats, leaving its allies, including Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, in a state of uncertainty.
The state has been rocked by political turmoil, including the split in the Shiv Sena, the collapse of the MVA government, and the rise of a BJP-led coalition. The NCP, too, has been fractured, with Ajit Pawar’s faction joining the ruling alliance.
Congress has declared 103 candidates, while Uddhav Thackeray’s faction of Shiv Sena has announced 87, and Sharad Pawar’s NCP has put forward 82 candidates. This brings the total number of candidates to 272 out of the 288 seats in the state.
The delay and indecision highlight the importance of this election, which is expected to be a referendum on the last few years of political upheaval in the state. With its 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra is second only to Uttar Pradesh in its political significance.
In the recent Lok Sabha election, the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi secured 30 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, while the ruling alliance won 17, with one seat going to an Independent candidate. The Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena claimed nine seats, outpacing Mr Shinde’s faction, which won seven. The Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar captured eight seats, in contrast to the one seat won by Ajit Pawar’s faction. Notably, the Congress made significant gains, rising from one seat to 13, while the BJP fell from 23 seats to nine.
