Satara: Maharashtra is witnessing heady electioneering ahead of November 20 assembly election, with the ruling Mahayuti alliance and its rivals trying to put in their best foot forward to emerge victorious.
The ruling alliance comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are eyeing another term. On the other hand, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (SP) of Sharad Pawar are also pulling out all stops to emerge winners in teh assembly polls. The MVA's optimism stems from the fact that the alliance won 30 of 48 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP is rushing Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Karad South on Friday, November 8. He will campaign for the ruling Mahayuti alliance's Atul Bhosle, who will lock horns with former CM Prithviraj Chavan in Karad taluka.
Aiming at giving a neck-to-neck competition, the MVA is trying to rope in former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for canvassing. Some of the top leaders have already contacted Kejriwal, requesting him to come and boost the campaigns. If Kejriwal cannot manage to visit Maharashtra, the MVA will try to bring in AAP MP Sanjay Raut, party leaders have said.
What Happened In The 2019 Assembly Elections?
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority to form the government during the 2019 assembly election, but the governemnt didn't last long.
Due to internal strife, the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, left the NDA and partnered with the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with Uddhav at the helm as the CM.
The state witnesed political upheaval once again in 2022. As a result, Eknath Shinde, a rebel, defected from the Uddhav-led party to join the BJP with 40 MLAs. This led to the fall of the MVA government and the resurgence of the Maha Yuti, comprising the BJP and the Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Later on, Shinde was named Chief Minister. The NCP split after Ajit Pawar rebelled against the Sharad Pawar-led party a year later.
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