Factor Of four

 Maharashtra heads for polls with all players battling questions. But the test is sharper for regional parties

The soon-to-be-held state elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and likely J&K, will witness cut-throat contests no less brutal than Lok Sabha fights. Lok Sabha results were a timely reminder to the political class that no party can bank on past performance and no party, in today’s multi-party reality, can fight alone at the national level. State-level issues dominated both campaign and candidate performance. The upshot is, ahead of assembly elections, particularly in Maharashtra, where the stakes are the highest for all parties involved, especially the four regional ones (two Senas, two NCPs), much of everything has muchly been said.

Tricky lotus lines | For BJP, as the single party that is in office in Haryana and majority player in Maharashtra, the stakes are high not only as incumbent, but also in how the party is perceived after the knock it took in LS polls. In Maharashtra, how Mahayuti (Shinde Sena, BJP and NCP), in office, emerged from LS polls is notable. CM Shinde, who lacks a statewide presence, viewed his haul of 6 of 15 seats contested as victory, while Fadnavis, under whom BJP won 9 of 28 seats it contested, offered to resign over the party’s tally. Perennial deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who recently lamented over missing out on CM-ship, holds his not being made CM as the factor responsible for his inability to rally all of NCP to his side. 

Where’s what matters | As Pawar Jr paddles furiously to line up his ducks in a row, the change in balance of power post LS has all three Mahayuti parties claiming credit for a slew of pre-poll measures – dole for men and women, free this and that. There’s little, so far, by way of addressing Maharashtra’s severe rural crisis, the Maratha quota mess or the jobs question.

Vague party lines | Whether opposition MVA (UBT-Sena, Congress, NCP-SP) will be able to carry to the assembly election gains of its LS performance is also iffy. Congress suffered a jolt when its MLAs cross-voted in biennial polls to 11 seats of the legislative council. Uddhav is yet to articulate his own brand of Sena politics that’s removed from Shinde’s. Sharad Pawar is reeling in MLAs from nephew’s NCP, but not everyone’s taking the bait. The drama of party lines and party loyalties remains unresolved for both Senas and NCPs. The Maharashtra contest will be as fascinating as its impact on national politics.

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