Big battle for Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray in 2024

In a state where alliances can make or break governments, for Pawar (83) and Thackeray (63), the Vidhan Sabha polls, expected around October, are going to be more challenging.

Mumbai: In the changing political dynamics of Maharashtra and BJP’s strategy against family-run parties, Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray are facing their biggest battle in their respective careers in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In a state where alliances can make or break governments, for Pawar (83) and Thackeray (63), the Vidhan Sabha polls, expected around October, are also going to be more challenging.

In the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena and NCP never crossed 20 and 10 seats, respectively, and in Vidhan Sabha, they never breached the 100-mark.

While Shiv Sena was founded by late Balasaheb Thackeray, who also championed the cause of Hindutva, on June 16, 1966 for the rights of 'Marathi-manoos', Pawar founded NCP on June 10, 1999 after being expelled by the Congress for raising the issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi.

The original parties and symbols - Shiv Sena (bow and arrow) and Nationalist Congress Party (clock) - are now in command of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, the NCP President.

While Thackeray now heads the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) with ‘mashaal’ (flaming torch) as its symbol, Pawar leads Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) and have been allotted the ‘tutari’ (man blowing turha) symbol.

Pawar and Thackeray are part of Congress-led I.N.D.I.A. and the Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra, which the duo had cobbled up to keep BJP out of power in the state.

After October 2019 Assembly polls, the situation changed when Thackeray joined hands with Congress-NCP Democratic Front to form the MVA following the initiative of Pawar, who is a family friend of the Thackerays.

The power slipped out of BJP’s hands and Devendra Fadnavis’ attempts to form a government with Ajit Pawar failed. But Fadnavis was committed to extract a revenge and ensured back-to-back splits in Shiv Sena and NCP in June-July 2022 and June-July 2023, respectively.

Fadnavis, a former two-time Chief Minister and ex-Leader of Opposition, who is now Deputy Chief Minister, said: “People always say about my statement “mi punha yein” (I will come back again)…they don’t recall what I said before that and after that…yes, I have come back…I have come here after breaking two parties (Shiv Sena and NCP)….I have two new partners (Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar).”

While a large section of Shiv Sena MPs and MLAs were annoyed with Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray calling the shots on many issues, particularly in Mumbai, Pawar’s elevation of daughter Supriya Sule irked nephew Ajit Pawar. Also, a lot of NCP and Shiv Sena leaders were under the radar of central agencies.

When in 1999 the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls were held together, the NCP was just formed and contested the polls independently.

After that, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and the Congress-NCP Democratic Front contested the polls against each other, but during the 2014 Assembly polls, the two alliances broke.