Mumbai: Following their remarkable success in the general election, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — a coalition comprising the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — announced in a press conference that they would contest the assembly election together. The state election, scheduled for later this year, will be crucial for both the MVA and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies: Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
The MVA collectively won 30 out of the 48 parliamentary seats in the state. The BJP, along with its allies, known as the Mahayuti, was reduced to a mere 17 seats. In 2019, the BJP alone had won 23 seats out of the 25 it had contested. While the Mahayuti has openly expressed discontent and internal conflicts, there have also been reports of disputes among the MVA parties.
The joint press conference of all the MVA party leaders on Saturday (June 15) served as a message that the coalition remains strong and will face the upcoming elections together. Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said that although the three parties fought together and won 30 seats, it would not have been possible without the smaller parties and independent social organisations that worked with the people of the state to ensure that the MVA put up a good show.
Along with thanking the voters of Maharashtra who chose the MVA over the BJP, the leaders also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I am happy that the public woke up in the Lok Sabha polls and the ‘Modi Sarkar’ has now been changed to ‘NDA Sarkar’,” Thackeray said. He further added, “In the coming months, assembly elections will be held in several states, and I believe that the situation of the country will improve even further.”
Also read: Maharashtra: Was the Mahayuti Debacle Devendra Fadnavis’s Failure Alone?
“Wherever the prime minister’s roadshow and rally took place, we won. That is why I consider it my duty to thank the prime minister. We thank PM Narendra Modi for making the political atmosphere conducive for the MVA,” said Sharad Pawar. Since the general elections were announced, the prime minister visited as many as 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra this time.
The BJP has accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of “peddling lies” against them and causing them to lose many seats in the election. Responding to this, Thackeray said, “Then what was the narrative used by Modi? What about the Mangalsutra narrative? What about the ‘taking away cows’ narrative? Was it right?” Thackeray thanked independent YouTubers and journalists for “debunking the BJP’s claims from time to time.”
After the Mahayuti’s poor show in the state, there have been talks about the possibility of many MLAs from both the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions wanting to return to their parent parties. To this, both Thackeray and Sharad Pawar said that the return of those who left the party is “out of the question”.
Read all of The Wire’s reporting on and analysis of the 2024 election results here.
