Maha rejected politics of betrayal

The people of Maharashtra rejected Sharad Pawar's politics of betrayal and Uddhav Thackeray's politics of dynasty in the 2024 assembly elections by giving the mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.

- Surendra Gangan

SHIRDI:

The BJP's victory in the state will have long-term consequences as India's development is not possible without Maharashtra's progress, Shah said at a state BJP convention in Shirdi.

"Sharad Pawar started politics of 'daga-phatka' (betrayal and treachery) in Maharashtra in 1978, which was rejected by people in 2024 (elections). Similarly, the politics of the dynasty and the betrayal of Uddhav Thackeray was also rejected," Shah said, attacking Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) veteran Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Thackeray.

The elections also ended the politics of instability in Maharashtra, which began in 1978, he said.

In 1978, Pawar, who later founded NCP, walked out of the Vasantdada Patil government with 40 MLAs and became the chief minister of the state. The Shiv Sena, under Thackeray before its split, and the BJP contested the 2019 assembly polls together, but Thackeray snapped the alliance over the CM's post, among other reasons.

"People showed Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray their place in the 2024 polls. They sent both home and made the real Shiv Sena and NCP victorious along with BJP," he said.

In the 2024 assembly elections, the Mahayuti coalition of BJP, NCP (led by Ajit Pawar), and Shiv Sena (led by Eknath Shinde) won 230 of the 288 seats in the state. BJP led the pack with 132 seats. The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) was reduced to 46 seats, with NCP(SP) and Sena (UBT) getting 10 and 20, respectively.