'Congress's overconfidence cost us...': Uddhav Thackeray's team on Maharashtra rout
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance has won the Maharashtra state elections in a historic fashion, winning 230 out of 288 seats in the Assembly. This is the biggest win for a pre-poll alliance in over 50 years. The BJP alone bagged 132 seats, while its allies, Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), won 57 and 41 seats respectively.
MVA coalition lags behind with 48 seats
In stark contrast, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition—made up of the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's NCP—could only manage to win 48 seats. Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Ambadas Danve blamed the Congress's "overconfidence" and its handling of seat-sharing talks for the dismal performance. He opined that if Uddhav Thackeray had been projected as the Chief Minister candidate, their results could have been better.
Congress's premature confidence criticized
Danve also slammed the Congress for being overconfident too soon, saying, "They were getting ready with suit and tie even before the results." Meanwhile, Congress leader G Parameshwara pointed to the internal disarray in the MVA as a reason behind their loss. He said Pawar's and Thackeray's groups didn't campaign well together.
BJP emerges as leading political force in Maharashtra
The election result has cemented BJP's position as the preeminent political force in Maharashtra, completing a decades-old plan of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. The party has gradually distanced itself from coalition politics to dominate regional parties like Shiv Sena and NCP. The development is similar to what has happened in other states where BJP has established supremacy over regional allies, leaving opposition parties in Maharashtra with questions.
Former ally acknowledges BJP's dominant position
Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde, a former ally turned Thackeray's rival, accepted BJP's supremacy by deferring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the decision of who will be the Chief Minister. BJP's plan was to exploit ideological differences in regional parties and use state power to weaken opponents. This development is similar to Gujarat where BJP faces little resistance from regional players.
