Eknath Shinde (left) staged a rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray in 20222 which led to Shiv Sena's split.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Polling for the 288 member Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra will be held on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.
The BJP aims to retain power in the state with allies Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the NCP led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is facing a challenge from the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition of the Congress-NCP(SP)-Shiv Sena (UBT), which hopes to repeat its performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
Ahead of the voting, let us take a look at how sitting chief ministers of the state have fared in past elections.
Yashwantrao Chavan
As Maharashtra's first CM, Yashwantrao Chavan set the stage for modern governance. He was instrumental in promoting cooperative movements and agricultural reforms. In 1946, Yashwantrao was first elected as Member of Legislative Assembly of the Bombay State from the South Satara constituency. Chavan, also regarded as the architect in the formation of Marathi speaking state of Maharashtra, was elected from the Karad constituency in 1957 Assembly elections.
Sharad Pawar
A political heavyweight, Sharad Pawar's leadership style and policies attracted both admiration and controversy. He served as Maharashtra chief minister four times and his terms were marked by economic reforms and infrastructure development.
Pawar represented the Baramati assembly constituency from 1967 to 1991 first as a Congress member.
His fourth term as the chief minister was mired by controversies surrounding his response to the 1993 Bombay bombings after which he eventually lost power in the state.
Vilasrao Deshmukh
Vilasrao Deshmukh was two-time Chief Minister of Maharashtra, from 1999 to 2003 and from 2004 to 2008. He was a member of the Indian National Congress and originally belonged to Latur district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
Deshmukh lost the election in 1995 by a margin of 35,000. He was re-elected to the State Legislature from Latur constituency in the elections held in September 1999 with a strong comeback winning by a margin of nearly 91,000 in two successive elections, the highest in Maharashtra.
Ashok Chavan
Chavan's brief term was marred by controversies, particularly the Adarsh Housing Society scam which led to his resignation. This scandal significantly impacted his electoral prospects and led to a decline in the Congress party's popularity in subsequent elections.
Despite the corruption allegations, the Congress party put him up as a party candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. He won the election by a huge margin.
Devendra Fadnavis
Fadnavis, the current deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, previously held the CM post from 31 October 2014 to 12 November 2019.
He has represented the Nagpur South West constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 2009, having previously served Nagpur West from 1999 to 2009.
Uddhav Thackeray
Unlike his father Bal Thackeray, who never took any constitutional post in his political career, after a brief political crisis, on 28 November 2019 Uddhav took oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra after being elected as the president of the newly formed post-poll coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi.
He was elected to Maharashtra Legislative Council after becoming the CM. His government was toppled after Eknath Shinde left the alliance with 40 MLAs to join hands with BJP.
Eknath Shinde
Current Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde represents the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of Thane, Maharashtra since 2009 as Shiv Sena (undivided) candidate and was formerly the MLA of Thane constituency from 2004 to 2009.
In the 2019 polls, Shinde defeated Sanjay Ghadigaonkar of Congress by a margin of over 89,000 votes.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.