Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat during the gathering of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) workers and office-bearers ahead of state Assembly elections, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
The country is set to witness another round of contests between its two main electoral alliances, with the Election Commission announcing the dates for the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand and a clutch of by-elections across the country. The elections in Maharashtra will be held on November 20 and Jharkhand will go to the polls on November 13 and 20. The by-elections for Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in various states will be held on November 13 and 20. In Maharashtra, the ruling coalition Mahayuti—the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP—will be up against the Maha Vikas Aghadi, the alliance of the Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP and the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. In Jharkhand, the ruling JMM, which is a part of the I.N.D.I.A bloc, will fight a challenge from the BJP-led NDA.
The outcome of the Assembly elections in Haryana, where the BJP won an unexpected victory over the Congress, increases the importance of the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections. The BJP’s victory has boosted the party and made it imperative for the I.N.D.I.A group to perform well in the two states. Maharashtra is politically important. The BJP had dislodged the state’s Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government by splitting the Shiv Sena and accepting an NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar. The MVA alliance has a psychological edge because it had performed better than the BJP-led alliance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The Shiv Sena and NCP factions that allied with the BJP have the task of proving themselves. Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction is particularly vulnerable and has an existential challenge before it. The ruling alliance faces a strong anti-incumbency sentiment and issues such as unemployment, economic stagnation and Maratha reservation to contend with. The government has showered sops and freebies on the voters, and there is a contest between the two alliances for OBC and Dalit votes.
Jharkhand will also see a spirited contest as the BJP-led alliance will try to wrest the state from the JMM-led alliance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given much attention to the state in recent weeks. Tribal and OBC votes will be decisive and the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who is out on bail now, and a monthly cash transfer scheme of the state government will be election issues. Unlike the Haryana election, the contest in the two states will be mainly between two alliances, and so the internal dynamics within them will have a bearing on the campaign and the outcome. The by-elections to be held in many states are also important, and those in UP, where the BJP had suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha elections, will be closely watched.