What changed the fortunes of alliances in Maharashtra

That Maharashtra's politics was headed for a structural break became clear on October 25, 2019, when the undivided Shiv Sena stalled the then National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) government formation despite the alliance winning a clear majority (161 out of 288 ACs) in the assembly elections.

- Nishant Ranjan and Roshan Kishore

When the Shiv Sena decided to join hands with its ideological and political rivals, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), to form a government in Maharashtra on November 28, 2019, a political realignment of fortunes became preordained. The only question was whether the combined strength of the Congress and the two regional parties would destroy the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state?

It has taken five years for that question to be answered — that local body polls were not conducted in the interim kept it in abeyance — but it seems to have become clear now. The BJP has turned the tables and now it looks like the Congress is left without any worthy allies in the state with the BJP-aligned factions of the Shiv Sena and the NCP registering big victories in the elections.

The BJP-led NDA, which is now called Mahayuti, has returned with a much bigger (235 out of 288) majority in Maharashtra now. And the BJP itself would appear to be stronger than before. The political and geographical mechanics of this tectonic shift are worth looking at in detail.

Let us look at the geographical change first.