Once a battleground for the Mughals and the Marathas, the state is now a battleground for political parties as elections for the legislative assembly approach. The state is home to lush green valleys in Mahabaleshwar and the bustling streets of Mumbai. A state that truly resonates with the Indian identity. Being home to a diverse population, Maharashtra is a front-runner state in every aspect. The state is currently in the midst of its state assembly elections and a place so unique cannot have ordinary elections. Some would even argue Maharashtra elections offer better cliffhangers than US presidential elections.
One can create a sitcom related to the state’s political dynamics (a few Bollywood movies have already taken inspiration from the state :P). To provide an overview, the state during the current tenure of the assembly has been governed by three different chief ministers from three major political alliances assisted by three different deputy chief ministers. Also, don’t forget the two major party splits!
Before one delves deeper into the various narratives and issues governing this election, one must be educated about the previous elections in the state. So let us glance through the state’s political and electoral history. The first assembly elections of the state were a result of the reorganisation of the Bombay state which spanned from Sindh in the north to certain parts of Karnataka in the south. The newly formed states of Gujarat and Maharashtra were populated by Gujarati and Marathi-speaking natives. Before this reorganisation, the state was a Congress-dominated province with Morarji Desai as its first elected chief minister succeeded by Yashwant Rao Chavan.
It has been sixty-four years since the state was formed but only two chief ministers have enjoyed a full term. State politics is fueled by various challenges that differ from region to region and can be poles apart. For instance, Pune and Mumbai face issues like water logging and excessive rainfall whilst the regions like Beed are affected by year-long droughts. Governing a state with a set of such diverse problems can be challenging.
Coming to the last assembly elections, Devedra Fadnvis on successfully completing a tenure as the state’s chief minister led the NDA alliance to another victory. According to many political enthusiasts, the split of the NDA alliance occurred after the results of the assembly elections were declared. Only if one paid close attention would one realise that the differences became quite evident when the Shiv Sena in its mouthpiece ‘Samna’ called out the government and called them the murderer of the aarey forest for a proposed metro shed.
The results of the elections allowed the government to be formed using various permutations and combinations across parties. Of the 288 seats in the assembly 145 were needed to stake a claim in government formation. Devendra Fadnvis led the Bhartiya Janta Party and secured 105 seats and their allies led by the son of Bal Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray won 56 seats. The Indian National Congress and National Congress Party of Sharad Pawar managed to gain 44 and 54 seats respectively. What made this situation further complicated were 13 independent MLAs who could pledge their support to either faction in case they wished to overturn the government.
As the results were declared the instinct was such that NDA would form the government with Devendra Fadnvis as the incumbent chief minister. As the counting day concluded, the state was taken by surprise as Uddhav Thackeray claimed that BJP leaders during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, formulated a formula for 50-50% of contesting elections and indirectly made claims for the party to have their chief minister. As one browses through various press briefings including the one which Uddhav Thackeray quoted after the victory, there is a lot of ambiguity on this “fifty-fifty” formula.
Following these press conferences was a period of political chaos with elected representatives confined to luxurious properties across the country and various leaders holding high-level meetings. One of the key meetings was between the NCP chief Sharad Pawar and BJP leader Amit Shah, there were speculations of the two parties allying. Shiv Sena then started evaluating options to form a government with other parties in the state after Sharad Pawar dismissed such rumours.
During this time while the possibility of any government being formed seemed unlikely, the farmers in the state called for a protest. The crop damage and heavy duties being levied by the government were the causes of this strike. All these events led to a state of turmoil for the masses. As the chaos unfolded, the state woke up to a surprise on 12th November 2019 as Devendra Fadanvis took oath as the 18th chief minister of the state and Ajit Pawar (Sharad Pawar’s Nephew) of NCP was sworn in as his number two (Deputy CM).
Later, the NCP chief refused his involvement and called for a meeting of elected MLAs to contain the situation. The explanation provided was that Ajit Pawar fabricated a document signed to mark the presence of elected representatives for the meeting and used it as a letter to form the Fadnvis-led government. The Shiv Sena, INC and NCP formed the alliance Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and filed for invalidation of this new government formed and the Supreme Court ordered a floor test in the assembly. Following this Devendra Fadnvis resigned as they were informed that the NCP withdrew their support. Thus, making this the shortest tenure for any Maharashtra’s chief minister of 5 days.
As per claims of the BJP, the government was only formed after Sharad Pawar’s approval but the NCP chief pulled out of the deal, seeking greater control over the MVA government. Later Uddhav Thackeray was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state and the alliance also proved their majority in the floor test. Soon Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the state’s deputy chief minister in December.
The MVA government was in power for nearly two and a half years, after which a Shiv Sena MLA from Thane Eknath Shinde gained the support of 37 MLAs and backed BJP to form a government. He criticised the MVA government and Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister. This political exodus made it to international headlines as these MLAs travelled the breadth of the country to be protected against being ‘bought out’. Later the MVA government fell. Eknath Shinde took oath as the next chief minister of Maharashtra with Devendra Fadnvis as his deputy. This also resulted in the split of Shiv Sena with the faction led by Eknath Shinde retaining the party name and political symbol. Uddhav Thackeray led the faction to form a new Shiv Sena (UBT) with a new symbol as Shinde won the constitutional battle.
A similar fallout and a split was witnessed in the case of NCP between Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar, where the latter joined the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance forming the Mahayuti. Ajit Pawar’s faction retained the original identity of the party too while the Sharad Pawar-led faction was forced to assume a new identity. These two parties were the two major political parties which had a strong ideological base in the state. Such fallouts resulted in an obvious vote split between the staunch supporters but the blow of these splits was faced by the Mahayuti (BJP- NCP- Shiv Sena alliance) in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
With the polling day around the corner, the political drama has also escalated in various constituencies. From young leaders like Zeeshan Siddique switching parties to major political giants who did not contest the 2019 elections, contesting this time. Including a case where Pune’s BJP President Jagdish Mulik, merely 2-3 minutes prior to the filing of nomination withdrew from contesting on order of Devendra Fadnvis to secure the seat of NCP-backed sitting MLA.
As we conclude, the imperative question that one should have is why the youth today should vote, especially when the political set-up in the state has blemishes of unstable governance, deceit and politics of name-calling. The answer is quite simple till the time the readers of this piece (assuming you belong to the youth) make it to the helm. We must pick and choose leaders that will first keep the interest of the public they serve at the centre amidst the regular political storms and secondly help in delivering a clear mandate. As I write this article it is quite difficult to assume who will take over the reins as the next chief minister of Maharashtra, but one thing is for sure, the young voters of the state today are responsible, vigilant and vocal and will fulfil their responsibility by casting their vote on the 20th November.
Towards the end, some may rightly point out we live in a country where elections and politics are more than steps to safeguard democracy. Elections are governed by emotions, political parties lead masses by their ideologies which are so deeply ingrained in our belief systems, that at times these beliefs are the basis of the existence of many. Whilst the political scenario in Maharashtra is like an Ekta Kapoor sitcom, there is no doubt that it has become a game of shallow power and money play. The next few days are quite unpredictable for the state, as mentioned earlier a battleground for the Marathas and Mughals is now a battleground of ideologies and belonging.