In coalition era of politics, Mumbai has always reflected India's mood

Mumbai: In the coalition-era of politics ongoing since the nineties, Mumbai has reflected the mood of India and a majority of the seats have gone to the ruling alliance at the Centre.

Mumbai comprises six Lok Sabha seats of Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai North-West, Mumbai North-East and Mumbai North.

From 2009 post-delimitation, the geographical boundaries of the six seats have altered, however, the trend has continued.

While it was mainly the Congress vs saffron alliance comprising Balasaheb Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and BJP between 1989 and 1995, the situation changed in 1999 when the Sharad Pawar-led NCP came into existence and the subsequent formation of the Congress-NCP Democratic Front.

Between 2019-2024, the situation further changed with the command of Shiv Sena and NCP going to Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar respectively and the formation of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).

Now, the fight in 2024 is clearly between the Maha Yuti (NDA) comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (I.N.D.I.A.) comprising Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP).

If one looks at the situation in 1991, the Congress and Shiv Sena-BJP saffron alliance bagged three seats each. This was the period when P V Narasimha Rao headed the alliance government and ushered in economic reforms with Dr Manmohan Singh at the helm.

In 1996, the saffron alliance bagged all the seats, while in 1998, the Congress-RPI alliance got three seats and the saffron combined got three seats. The period saw the governments of Atal Bihari Vajpayee for 13 days followed by coalitions of H D Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral. Then followed the 13-month government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In 1999, the saffron alliance got five seats and Congress got one seat.

In 2004, the BJP managed just one seat while the Congress-NCP bagged five seats and in 2009, the Democratic Front swept all the six seats. The Congress-led UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh was in power.

In 2014 and 2019, India saw the Narendra Modi-wave and the alliance of BJP and undivided Shiv Sena swept all the six seats.

In 2024, the Maximum City has a lot in store owing to the internal bickering involving both the political formations.