Out of 50 seats the opposition alliance won -- the Congress tally was just 16, Shiv Sena (under Uddhav) only 20 and NCP under 'Maratha strongman' Sharad Pawar only 10.
The Samajwadi Party - the party of Akhilesh Yadav and supposed to be a big 'sickular' organisation could pick up two seats. The Mandate Maharashtra thus rejected three power centres and dynasts and elites - Congress under Rahul-Sonia-Priyanka combine, NCP of Pawar -- who faces 'forced retirement' verdict and of Sena of Uddhav Thackeray - who has been punished for deserting the cause of Hindutva - something his father was proud of.
According to suspended Congress leader Sanjay Jha, "If the Congress needs any inspiration for the future, it should look at its fellow partner, Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren. Jailed, harassed, and facing a vicious hate campaign, a fabricated charge of forced demographic change on account of Bangladeshi infiltration from a take-no-prisoners BJP, the JMM leadership remained resilient".
But Sanjay misses the point that the Congress party is hardly a fighting outfit. The leaders are always self-styled 'big leaders' and lazy and know politics as a stepping stone to power and entitlements.
Thus if the Congress party and the opposition MVA is shell-shocked, they have to blame themselves. The Maharashtra voters have shown rather decisively the experiment with power games and treachery pulled by Sharad Pawar in 2019 had to come to this sort of end !
Did they really began fantasising about occupying the chief ministerial residence and the corridors of power in Mantralaya too early.
The contrast is telling.
In June 2024, the MVA tasted a staggeringly high 65 per cent conversion success rate in terms of seats won. They led in 155 assembly constituencies.
Well Sanjay Jha also says: "This was an electoral catastrophe; no political pundit forecasted this havoc-creating tsunami. In fact, neither had the Mahayuti alliance (BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena) which was the stunned victor."
For his part on the counting day, Nov 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted:
- "Development wins! Good governance wins!
United we will soar even higher! Heartfelt gratitude to my sisters and brothers of Maharashtra, especially the youth and women of the state, for a historic mandate to the NDA. This affection and warmth is unparalleled". Modi's detractors would many things to say now and would continue to come out with their usual. unusual and falsehood-laced excuses for the defeat.
The media has been doing enough cacophony on Sanjay Raut's post-results remarks. Perhaps Sanjay Raut's rhetoric damaged Uddhav's poll prospects more than anyone else or anything more !
They will say Modi successfully played Hindutva card. That he did indeed
And why not? Hindutva has been Modi's trump card and it is a theme that directly connects to voters and their political narrative.
They would also say Modi 'nationalised' a provincial election ... but that's Namo -- a sharp contrast from chief opponent (supposedly) Rahul Gandhi -- whose attack was often too personal against business tycoon Gautam Adani.
Mumbai is India's commercial capital and hence corporate and business culture matter here. Rahul Gandhi may no know - those who grow rich in Mumbai/Maharashtra or even Gujarat - do so by hard work !
Ultimately, it was found that the local issues dominated the state election, and the popular perception gained ground -- and this brought in complacency in MVA - that they are safe even without a fight.
There was a vacant space and BJP could hence work successfully.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Ek hai toh safe hai' (we are safe if we are united) had a magical apeal.
Safe from whom? The Sickulars and radical Muslims? Or those who relish in insulting Hindus?
The BJP trampled masterfully over the caste-reservation call of Rahul Gandhi.
Regional parties will wither away under One Nation, One Poll: ADR
If the ‘One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE) is implemented the regional parties will slowly merge with larger political outfits, leading to withering of heterogeneity in the country’s political space, said Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) founder member and trustee Jagdeep Chhokar.
As per the ECI, 2,764 active registered political parties in the country as of March 23, 2024, which are recognised as ‘national’ and ‘State’ parties’. India has six national parties and 75 regional parties that are recognised by Election Commission of India (ECI).
According to Chhokar, registered political parties enjoy legal exemption from income tax payment under Section 13A of the Income Tax Act, which is one of the reasons for their proliferation.
“The concept of ONOE is harmful to the country, as it will prod regional parties to assimilate into the national outfits.
I believe that national parties should not try to subvert state parties,” said Chhokar.
Central govt is expected to table the ‘ONOE’ enabling legislation in the winter session of Parliament. He said that the level of democratisation in the country is far from satisfactory.
“There is no country in the world that is a perfect democracy. We should look at the degree of democratisation, not if a country is a democratic, and it is lacking in India. A democracy can only exist if its pillars are democratic in themselves, and none of India’s pillars are,” he said.
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