Maharashtra assembly elections 2024: How splits and mergers are not new to state politics

The big fight is among two of the largest alliances all during the state – Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi. The journey by which regional politics in Maharashtra has reached its current state where the contest is among two alliances has a precedence worth declaring

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Representative image. PTI

Maharashtra is all set to move to polls next week. The assembly elections will pose a make-or-break situation for regional and national parties alike as candidates fight for 288 seats that are up for grabs.

After the Lok Sabha debacle, these elections can be a litmus test for the Bharatiya Janata Birthday celebration which is contesting in alliance with the breakaway factions of Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Birthday celebration. Meanwhile, for the Congress and Shiv Sena, the polls can be about getting their ground back all during the state.

The big fight is among two of the largest alliances all during the state – Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi. The journey by which regional politics in Maharashtra has reached its current state where the contest is among two alliances has a precedence worth declaring.

While it'd seem more rampant and dramatic in as of late’s day and age, defections, splits and acquisitions are in fact not new to Maharashtra politics. It has indeed changed on the topic of power dynamics but the core of the issue stays the identical.

Here’s a study each and every of the splits and mergers India’s 1/3-largest state has seen in its political history:

The first Pawar exit

Nationalist Congress Birthday celebration(SP) supremo Sharad Pawar can be calling his nephew Ajit Pawar a “traitor” but the leader himself is now not unfamiliar with defecting all during the middle of a government term.

Back in 1978, two factions of the grand old birthday party, Congress (I) and Congress (S) came together to form the federal government in Maharashtra. Pawar was portion of the Congress (I) bloc and hence automatically became portion of the administration.

It may probably perhaps be wrong to assume that a storm all during the birthday party was now not brewing. The very the reason is, the grand old birthday party broke away catalysed the first-ever unparalleled split all during the federal government in Maharashtra. And Pawar was the harbinger of this trend.

He left the Congress government with the improve of 38 MLAs to sign on for hands with the Janata Birthday celebration and the Peasants and Workers Birthday celebration. The three formed a brand new alliance also is known because the Progressive Democratic Front that made Pawar the youngest chief minister of the state on the age of 38.

The Pawar comeback

The PDF was a brief-lived alliance. The grand old birthday party lower than former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi successfully brought Uncle Pawar back into Congress’ fold in 1986.

Gandhi specifically flew down to Aurangabad to welcome Sharad Pawar back to the birthday party.

5 years later, Maharashtra’s other prominent regional birthday party, Shiv Sena, saw its first split in 1991 when Chhagan Bhujbal left over his resentment for now not being considered for the post of Leader of the Opposition. Bhujbal joined Pawar’s team Congress and made the now NCP chief his mentor. Since then, Bhujbal has change into the flag bearer of Dalit and OBC rights all during the state with the backing of a strong regional birthday party.

2nd time’s a charm

Pawar did it again. The leader broke ties with Congress for a 2nd time in 1999. Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origins failed to take a seat right with uncle Pawar and that was infamously the the reason is, he left.

This was the year that saw the inception of the Nationalist Congress Birthday celebration crafted by Pawar and his colleagues PA Sangma and Tariq Anwar who were also expelled from the GOP.

Cracks in Shiv Sena

As mentioned before, the first split Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena witnessed was with the exit of Bhujbal.

The 2nd crack appeared when Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray parted ways with Shiv Sena owing scuffle with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray. Raj formed a brand new birthday party also is known because the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) in 2006.

For years after this, Sena remained free from major breakaways before the Eknath Shinde episode which changed the birthday party lines forever.

Family DOES NOT come first

Till now, the splits and mergers were free from family affairs and were only the result of rifts between political leaders.

This changed in 2019 when Sharad Pawar’s nephew, Ajit Pawar, left NCP, aligned with BJP and took oath as Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister – all in a matter of just a pair of hours.

Ajit’s move, which was motivated by personal gains in state politics, caught his uncle off guard and caused an exceptional deal of resentment within birthday party lines.

But Ajit Pawar’s big ‘power play’ was also short-lived when he flipped, resigned from the post that was just offered to him by BJP and joined NCP back some days later.

With his nephew back in his team, Sharad Pawar’s NCP allied with Congress and Shiv Sena to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

The 1/3 major split in Shiv Sena

Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena strongman, created a storm in 2022 when he announced a rebellion against the then government.

This move made tectonic shifts in Maharashtra politics where Shinde’s disobedience with the Uddhav Thackeray-led government led to its downfall. The Chief Minister of the state had the overwhelming improve of MLAs that broke the Shiv Sena government into shambles and made way for a brand new government with the BJP.

Shinde was made the manager minister of the state soon after with Devendra Fadnavis becoming his deputy. Shiv Sena, thereafter, broke away into two factions – Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde).

Like uncle, like nephew?

Ajit Pawar pulled a Sharad Pawar in 2023.

The last setback that NCP witnessed before the 2024 assembly elections was when Ajit Pawar worldwide again left his uncle to ally with Shiv Sena (Shinde) and BJP.

He was made the deputy chief minister of the state worldwide again and following this he formed his own version of NCP, also is known because the NCP (Ajit Pawar).

Ajit Pawar has stuck around for over a year this time and it's a ways yet to be seen how long this alliance lasts.