MVA WINS THE SEMI-FINAL

With the Opposition MVA stealing a march on the ruling Mahayuti in the Lok Sabha stakes, Maharashtra is all set for a take-no-prisoners contest in the assembly election a few months from now

- Dhaval S. Kulkarni

More than numbers and victory margins, the Lok Sabha results in Maharashtra were to be a referendum on the state’s political realignments since 2022. The first true test of the public opinion after the splits in the Shiv Sena and the Natio nalist Congress Party (NCP) in 2022 and 2023 respectively, they were to determine which factions deserved to be called the ‘real’ Shiv Sena or NCP. It was also to be a verdict—a legitimacy test—on a government forged out of splits and defections, toppling a democratically elected one. As it happened, it settled the second question—the more national one.

It was the aggrieved Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the coalition of the Congress and the leftover Sena and NCP factions, that came up trumps at the end of the five-phase election in Maharashtra, winning 30 of the state’s 48 seats. That gave the larger Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) its second-highest tally after Uttar Pradesh. The ruling Mahayuti (grand alliance), a part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had to rest content with just 17; a rebel Congressman cornered one seat.

The outcome will re-energise the MVA, placing it in a strong position for the assembly election later this year. As a senior leader of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) puts it, “This is a win-win situation…. As a regional party, we have few stakes in the Lok Sabha polls. The real battle for us lies in the state assembly. Our numbers will serve as a morale-booster and stem further defections to Shinde.” But on this regional plane, the verdict also left that first question partly unanswered. Neither Sena truly dominated, neither got decimated.