Mumbai: Hit by political turmoil since 2019, the most frequently-asked question in Maharashtra in the run up to the polls was - which is the real Shiv Sena and which is the real NCP!
The 2024 Lok Sabha polls have answered it as the ‘tod-jod’ politics and ‘saam, daam, dand, bhedh’ method has been rejected by the people of this western Indian state.
Its Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar who have more support from the public, though on paper, the real Shiv Sena and the real NCP are controlled by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, respectively.
The BJP was rattled in Maharashtra when Thackeray broke ranks after the Vidhan Sabha polls in 2019 and joined hands with erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front to form Maha Vikas Aghadi, a marquee anti-BJP coalition.
What followed was several attempts to destabilise the Sharad Pawar-crafted and Thackeray-led MVA which also included Congress.
The chance for BJP came during the June 2022 elections to Rajya Sabha and Maharashtra Legislative Council.
BJP’s troubleshooter Devendra Fadnavis, a former Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition engineered a split in the Shiv Sena to topple the MVA dispensation and anointed Shinde as the Chief Minister.
However, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked BJP President JP Nadda to convey that Fadnavis would have to join the dispensation as the Deputy Chief Minister.
In June-July 2023, Fadnavis used another opportunity to split the NCP and Ajit Pawar joined the NDA as the Deputy Chief Minister.
The Election Commission and Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar recognised the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP as the real parties and allowed the iconic bow-and-arrow and clock symbols respectively.
Thackeray has settled with Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) as the party’s name and got the mashaal symbol while Pawar got the name as NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and ‘man-blowing-tutari’ symbol.
Thackeray and Pawar reached out to the people how BJP “stole the parties,” how ICE, a reference to Income Tax, Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate was misused and how cash was allegedly used for the splits.
In every of his rallies, Thackeray, his son and Worli MLA Aditya Thackeray used expressions like “pannas khoke” (boxes) and “gaddars” (traitors).
Pawar’s daughter Supriya Sule spoke of ICE in every of her rallies and gave examples of how BJP was targeting political opponents through investigative agencies.
At the time of going to press, Shiv Sena (UBT) won/leading in 9 seats while Shiv Sena had won/leading 7 seats and on the other hand, NCP (SP) won/leading in 7 seats while NCP won just one seat.
Track Lok Sabha Election results live | Check all constituency results here
Track Odisha Assembly poll results live | Check constituency results here
Track Andhra Pradesh Assembly poll results live | Check constituency results here
Lok Sabha Elections 2024 | Will it be Narendra Modi's 'Viksit Bharat' or Rahul Gandhi's I.N.D.I.A.? As the world's largest democracy votes to choose its future, track live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Assembly Elections 2024 | Don't miss out on our detailed coverage of the polls in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha. Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.