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Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray: Old order humbled in Maharashtra as BJP-led Mahayuti set for record win
Sharad Pawar has been humbled like never before; Uddhav Thackeray is put in his place, and Eknath Shinde is the new Shiv Sena heavyweight
In a matter of a few hours, the old political order has crumbled in Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar, the warrior of many valiant battles in the past, has been humbled like never before.
Uddhav Thackeray, the man who purported to represent Shiv Sena was put in his place, Eknath Shinde is the new heavyweight in state politics and the BJP has just demonstrated that its loss in the Lok Sabha elections, both in the state and at the centre, could be no more than a flash in the pan.
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Even as results kept trickling in, it became clear that Shinde-led Mahayuti is set for a landslide win in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with trends showing the BJP's tally alone double that of the Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA). While the Mahayuti is leading in over 200 seats in the 288-strong assembly, the BJP, which fielded 149 candidates, is ahead in 125.
On the other hand, the opposition MVA is leading in only 60 seats in what is being perceived as a massive embarrassment following a strong Lok Sabha show.
Says political analyst Manisha Priyam said,"The unified campaign by the BJP, the ground campaign done by the RSS, and women voting heavily in favour of the BJP, has changed the complexion of the Maharashtra assembly elections."
The Shinde government’s Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, which offers financial assistance of ₹1,500 per month to over 2.4 crore women, seems to have worked wonders for the Mahayuti alliance.
The game-changing results in the state came from the Vidarbha region, where the BJP-led Mahayuti was comfortably ahead in 40 seats, with the Congress leading in nine. There are a total of 62 assembly seats in the Vidharbha region.
“It is clear that the Congress stands bested in straight fights with the BJP, while regional parties have taken a pounding,” Priyam told this reporter.
Just how the mood has changed is clear from the following. In the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP contested 260 seats, winning 122. In 2019, in alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena, the party contested 152 seats and bagged 105.
Maharashtra poll outcome a turnaround for Mahayuti
The outcome represents a turnaround for the Mahayuti, which even its strongest supporters or the exit polls could never have predicted. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, barely a few months ago, the BJP-led alliance was reduced to 17 out of 48 seats.
Tactically, the BJP has used social engineering in a way which is different from the other political parties.
As in Haryana, where it managed to oust the most influential Jat community, in Maharashtra, the Marathas, whose vote is regarded as key in 160 out of the 288 assembly constituencies, have been isolated, despite a strong pro-Maratha caste reservation movement raging in the state.
What has also helped the BJP campaign was its ability to resolve differences with the RSS, which campaigned extensively for it, consolidating its core constituency.
Pushing its hardline Hindutva agenda — illustrated by slogans such as “ek hain toh safe hain (together we are safe)” and “batenge toh katenge (divided we fall)” — the BJP worked, uniting and energising its vote base, while negating the MVA’s attempt to consolidate Muslims, Dalits, and Kunbis, one of the largest OBC groups in the state.
After the shock of the Lok Sabha results, more than two dozen outfits affiliated to the RSS proactively campaigned for the BJP and its alliance partners. “We realised the dangers of caste and religious polarisation that took place in the Lok Sabha polls, ” a Sangh leader told this reporter.
Little wonder that Devendra Fadnavis, BJP’s deputy chief minister, crediting the BJP-led alliance's success to PM Narendra Modi, posted on X: "Ek hai to safe hai (united we are safe). Modi hai to mumkin hai (Modi makes it possible)."
The jibe at Rahul Gandhi, who has mocked and disparaged the campaigns, could not have been clearer.
