Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) emerged as the largest winning alliance in Maharashtra, winning 30 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress, which had won just one seat in 2019, bagged 13 this time. The Shiv Sena (UBT), which contested 23 seats, won nine.
The results raise an interesting question for the UBT: Were the gaddars (traitors) successful in retaining their seats? Was the result because the UBT declared candidates directly without taking alliance parties in confidence, for example in Sangli and Mumbai North West?
Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray lost his bastion Thane and the entire Konkan belt, including Raigad and Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg.
Was this the effect of losing the party’s name and symbol? Will Thackeray’s bargaining power go down in the assembly and BMC elections?
Will the UBT have to give more seats to its alliance partners in the elections?
These questions show the road ahead is not easy for Thackeray.
Interestingly, despite the MVA winning 30 seats in Maharashtra, Aaditya Thackeray, who is usually very media friendly and was eager to speak with journalists during the election campaign, did not address the media on Tuesday.
Even Thackeray Sr only spoke to the media at 8pm. Those eight-nine seats that the Sena (UBT) lost could have made a big difference on government formation at the Centre.
“The Maratha community was angry with the BJP but not with Shiv Sena leader and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. That is what resulted in BJP losing so many seats in the state. Shinde took steps to address the concerns of the Maratha community. Secondly, Uddhav doesn’t have the sort of network of workers that Shinde has in Thane and Kalyan,” political analyst Abhay Deshpande said.
“There was anti-incumbency against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Vinayak Raut in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency. The BJP fielded a strong candidate, Narayan Rane, against him. In Aurangabad, Muslim votes did not transfer to the UBT. That is why the party’s candidate there, Chandrakant Khaire, lost to Shinde Sena’s Bhumare Sandipanrao Asaram,” Deshpande said.
In Mumbai, the consolidation of minority, Dalit and Marathi votes helped Uddhav win, he added.
The Congress faces an uphill task of revitalising itself in Mumbai to ensure it does not cede more ground to Shiv Sena (UBT) in the metropolis without harming the alliance. In 2019, the Congress won only four assembly seats in Mumbai.
The region, with its 72 assembly segments, remains crucial as state polls are scheduled later this year.
Out of the 72 assembly seats, BJP holds 26, Shiv Sena 28, NCP 6, Samajwadi Party two, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi three, CPM and MNS one each, with an independent supporting Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Since the splits in Shiv Sena and NCP, the majority of MLAs are with Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Since 2014, the BJP and the undivided Shiv Sena dominated the Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies in Maharashtra. However, with the splits in Shiv Sena and NCP, the political landscape has become a level playing field for all parties.
