E-Paper
Lok Sabha polls: INDIA bloc banking on good show in Maharashtra
Maharashtra is key to the BJP’s plans for a third straight term as it is expected to do well in the north but faces a tough contest in the south
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ally Shiv Sena won 42 and 41 of Maharashtra’s 48 seats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They accounted for a significant chunk of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)’s overall tally of 336 (2014) and 353 (2019) seats. Maharashtra is key to the BJP’s plans for a third straight term as it is expected to do well in the north but faces a tough contest in the south.
The fight was straight between the BJP-Shiv Sena and the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) groupings in the last two Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, which sends the second highest (48) lawmakers to Parliament after Uttar Pradesh (80).
Shiv Sena and NCP have since split with a majority of their lawmakers defecting to the factions that are part of the NDA. Yet the Opposition Congress-led Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is banking on a good show in Maharashtra.
A Congress leader said they hope to win 20-plus seats. “If the anti-incumbency and other factors work and the ruling coalition fails to get a desired number of seats in central and north India, things could go wrong for them.”
Political analyst Padmabhushan Deshpande said there is polarisation on caste lines in the state. “No politician has a clear idea what will be the impact of the Maratha versus OBC [Other Backward Class] polarisation.”
Agrarian crisis, unemployment, especially in rural areas, and communal polarisation would also determine the outcome besides national issues.
Surendra Jondhale, another political analyst, said the split in Shiv Sena and NCP as well as the Maratha quota agitation has led to voter fragmentation. “Will the traditional voters of Shiv Sena and NCP shift towards the BJP? This will decide the outcome of the election.”
The result of Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra will also set the tone for the assembly elections due to be held later this year.
