Even though uncertainty looms over the seat-sharing arrangements among the MahaYuti partners and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies for the Lok Sabha elections despite the announcement of poll schedule, both sides are geared up to take on each other on several issues. This is the first election taking place in Maharashtra after the split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The ruling MahaYuti comprising the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP is determined to ride on the Modi wave and Modi’s guarantees with the tagline ‘Ab ki bar, 400 par’, and also to cash in on the slew of pro-development decisions taken by the Centre and the state government.
On the other hand, the opposition MVA partners, including the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and the Congress, are planning to corner the BJP and its allies on several issues, including the drought in the Marathwada region and other parts of Maharashtra, farmers’ distress, rising unemployment, inflation, and the law and order situation in the state. While the ruling MahaYuti allies propose to reach out to the voters seeking a third term for Prime Minister Modi for stability and speeding up the growth process, the MVA partners have decided to approach the electorate with a call to save the Constitution and democracy in the country.
The BJP and its allies strongly believe that the electorate will vote for the MahaYuti and the NDA at the Centre on issues such as the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian economy becoming the fifth largest in the world, etc. As far as Mahrashtra is concerned, the MahaYuti is optimistic that the voters will vote in its favour as the triple-engine government is ideally positioned to make Maharashtra a $1 trillion economy by promoting growth in every sector to generate jobs and revenues. The MahaYuti, in particular, will corner Uddhav Thackeray on Hindutva, claiming that he left it to become the Chief Minister by joining hands with the Congress and the NCP.
Veteran leader Sharad Pawar may be a bit down after his nephew Ajit Pawar deserted him and joined hands with the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra, but he is certainly not out as the veteran politician has given a call to relieve the country from the BJP regime by running a movement on the lines of ‘Quit India’. The faction-ridden Congress is charged up following the conclusion of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai, as it plans to seek votes on ‘Five Nyays’ (guarantees) released recently. For the MVA, it is a fight to ensure that it can provide a strong alternative to the BJP and its allies to regain power after the Assembly polls scheduled to be held in Maharashtra later this year.
