Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray during a rally for Lok Sabha elections, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: Amid the backdrop of the Lok Sabha elections and the widening rift between the Marathas and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) over the reservation issue in Maharashtra, the BJP-led Maha Yuti (NDA) dispensation is set to face rough weather during the monsoon session with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A) has armed itself with multiple issues.
The 27 June-12 July session is expected to be the last sitting for the 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly - as the elections of the western Indian state is due in October 2024.
Post the fortnight-long session, in the run up to the Vidhan Sabha polls, a lot of political churning is expected involving the two mega-alliances - the Maha Yuti comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP and MVA comprising Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-headed Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).
It is noteworthy to mention here that during the course of the session, 15 vacancies of the Maharashtra Legislative Council would be filled.
Elections for four Graduates’/Teachers’ seats of Council are scheduled on 26 June and the vacancies and the counting would be taken up on 1 July.
The biennial elections for 11 seats of the Council is scheduled on 12 July.
Ajit Pawar, who is also the state’s Finance Minister, would table the Budget for 2024-25 on 28 June - as during the previous session the state had tabled a Vote on Account in view of the general elections.
With both sides trying to poach each other’s MLAs, the session is going to be crucial.
Since the 2019 Vidhan Sabha polls, there has been a turmoil in Maharashtra politics with splitting of two parties - Shiv Sena and NCP and three different governments.
The period saw three Chief Ministers - Devendra Fadnavis, Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, Ajit Pawar being Deputy Chief Minister in three governments and three Leaders of Opposition - Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and Vijay Wadettiwar.
One of the crucial issues, which is double-edged and can damage both the ruling side and opposition is the reservation issue.
The five back-to-back hunger strikes by Manoj Jarange-Patil demanding reservation for Marathas as OBCs and Prof Laxman Hake, who is opposing the dilution of OBC quota has emerged as a big issue.
It's going to be a tight-rope walk for Shinde-Fadnavis-Pawar.
The BJP has already faced the brunt as it was reduced to nine seats in 2024 Lok Sabha polls from 23 in 2014 and 2019.
If one looks at the performance of the LS polls in the Assembly segments, the MVA is ahead in 150-plus seats of the 288 in Maharashtra.
The drought in parts of Maharashtra and agrarian distress is also a big issue.
The law and order situation like Pune's Porsche hit-and-run incident, increase in crime in big urban cities like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur and its metropolitan regions are major issues.