THE IMPORTANCE OF MAHARASHTRA ELECTIONS

If winning Haryana was important for the BJP then Maharashtra holds the same existential significance for the INDIA bloc and particularly the Congress party.

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If you recall the BJP came out of the Lok Sabha polls with a significant decrease in its numbers giving hope to the Opposition that it had a chance in the next round of assembly polls.

That hope came to naught when the BJP swept the assembly polls and also managed a good showing in Jammu. If anything it was the Congress that came out demoralised post haryana as it lost a state it could have so easily won. No wonder then, those who saw the Prime Minister's victory speech at the BJP HQ on the evening of the Haryana results were heard remarking that the PM had got his mojo back. And how! Now it is the Congress party's turn to face the electoral test. Not unlike Haryana, Maharashtra is a state where a BJP alliance is in power.

However, this is again a state where the Congress and its allies did well in the Lok Sabha and where it fancies a chance of a comeback. This again is exactly what had happened in Haryana as well where the Congress fared well in the Lok Sabha but could not translate its gains in the assembly polls. Can the Congress and its MVA alliance partners challenge the BJP's lead Mahayuti alliance and win the state for the INDIA bloc.