New Delhi: The race for Maharashtra’s 288-seat assembly is set to be a close contest between the BJP-led NDA and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, which includes Congress, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, and Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena. While the NDA dominated the outgoing assembly with 203 seats, internal rifts within the Shiv Sena and NCP have shifted the balance. Projections now suggest the NDA will secure 127 seats, while the MVA could win 151 seats, mirroring trends from the Lok Sabha elections.
Regional factors are pivotal in this contest. The BJP has strengthened its foothold in Mumbai and Thane, while MVA continues to lead in Marathwada, bolstered by agrarian distress and Maratha agitation against the BJP. NCP retains dominance in Western Maharashtra through control of cooperatives, while Vidarbha, once a Congress stronghold, is now a battleground between Congress and BJP, with the latter leveraging its RSS base in Nagpur.
Both coalitions are focusing on welfare schemes like the BJP’s Ladki Behen Yojana and the MVA’s Mahalakshmi initiative to appeal to voters. However, concerns about polarising rhetoric could overshadow development-focused campaigns. Tensions within Congress over seat-sharing and Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership ambitions add to the volatility, with Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction playing a key role.
Watch Episode 1555 of Cut The Clutter, where Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta, along with Political Editor D.K. Singh and Deputy Editor Manasi Phadke, look at the six regions of the state, what significance each one holds, power-share dynamics within coalitions, agendas surrounding the polls and what makes these elections unpredictable yet very important.
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