E-Paper
Maharashtra polls: Why is it a survival test for Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray
Both Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray have endured testing times after their respective parties NCP and Shiv Sena were split in the last two years.
Maharashtra will vote in a single phase election to its 288-member assembly on November 20, the Election Commission announced. The upcoming election is a direct contest between the ruling Mahayuti coalition and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) bloc.
The electoral battle is a tough test for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ruling allies Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
But the election won't easy for the opposition MVA, which scripted a stupendous performance in the Lok Sabha elections. All eyes are on two leaders, who are facing a survival test this autumn.
Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray. Both the regional satraps have endured testing times after their respective parties NCP and Shiv Sena were split in the last two years. It is now or never for these two netas as the Maharashtra elections will determine their future.
What's at stake for Sharad Pawar?
Just three days before the assembly elections in the state in 2019, Sharad Pawar braved heavy rain while addressing a rally in Satara. Many believed that the moment proved to be a turning point in the Maratha strongman's political career.
In the general elections held that year, the NCP had won just four seats and the political pundits had written Pawar off. But the tables were turned in October 2019 as Sharad Pawar emerged as the kingmaker and architect of the MVA.
He was instrumental in stitching an alliance comprising Shiv Sena, Congress and his party NCP. He thwarted a near-successful coup by his nephew Ajit Pawar, who took oath as the deputy chief minister in Devendra Fadnavis's short-lived government.
In May last year, Pawar shocked everyone by announcing his decision to step down as NCP chief. However, he withdrew his decision days later. But he did not know what lay in store for him. His ambitious nephew Ajit successfully split the party the veteran leader had formed after being expelled from the Congress in 1999. Ajit Pawar is currently the deputy to chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Earlier this year, the Election Commission recognised Ajit Pawar's faction as the real NCP. However, the party could win just one seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
If the NCP (SP) under 83-year-old Pawar pulls off an exceptional performance, it would bolster his morale in reclaiming the party he had founded.
Will Uddhav Thackeray win the battle for Bal Thackeray's legacy?
In 2019, Uddhav Thackeray walked out of the NDA over the issue of rotational chief ministership after the Maharashtra assembly elections. He headed the coalition government with undivided NCP and Congress.
ALSO READ: Inside the Shiv Sena-BJP split: Cracks appeared before Lok Sabha polls
“In a democracy, heads are counted to show numbers. I am not interested in that. I don't want to play these games," Thackeray said in 2022, moments before announcing his decision to resign.
The first member of the Thackeray family to hold a constitutional post, Uddhav was forced to step down as chief minister after his cabinet colleague Eknath Shinde rebelled along with 40 other MLAs.
Since then, Uddhav Thackeray has minced no words in attacking Shinde, now the CM, and the BJP. In February last year, the poll panel recognised Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena.
If the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) performs well in the assembly polls, it would bolster the party's claims of being the only inheritor of Bal Thackeray's legacy.
