MahaYuti vs MVA: A fight to consolidate their hold over Maharashtra

Mumbai, Oct 15 (IANS) Buoyed by the Haryana victory, the BJP with allies Shiv Sena and NCP hoped to replicate its performance in the Maharashtra Assembly election by aggressively flagging off development plank and stepping up outreach with voters by taking up a slew of welfare and development schemes.

The MahaYuti is seeking votes for continuity and speeding up the state's growth to achieve a $1 trillion economy.

On the other hand, the Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena UBT are riding on MahaYuti’s government’s anti-incumbency assuring the voters to regain Maharashtra’s lost glory due to corruption, a lapse in law and order and delicate state of finances due to burgeoning revenue and fiscal deficits and public debt. Both MahaYuti and MVA have indicated that they are not leaving any stone unturned for their victory.

MahaYuti has already declared that it will fight the assembly election under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde while MVA will approach the voters through collective leadership. Incidentally, both have refrained from projecting CM’s face to avoid internal bickering.

For MahaYuti, it's an opportunity to cash in on the freebies and various schemes worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore and the announcement of clearance to a slew of development projects which run into crores of rupees.

On the other hand, the Maha Vikas Aghadi is determined to expose the “traitor’s record” by tracking up scams and lapses in governance during the MahaYuti government.

MahaYuti has given approvals for the establishment of corporations for various sections of society mainly OBCs and the underprivileged. It has also taken decisions to provide financial assistance to OBCs, tribals, farmers and youths in a serious bid to lure them considering their backlash in the general elections.

Despite that, the MahaYuti faces challenges from the Maratha and OBC communities who are displeased with the government for not resolving the issues relating to the reservation to their satisfaction.

The Dhangar community is fuming over the MahaYuti government for not keeping its promise to provide reservations from the Scheduled Tribes category and issuing a government resolution declaring Dhangar and Dhangad as one and the same.

Even though Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar have repeatedly said that the MahaYuti will not touch the reservation of any community the pro-quota activists from Maratha and OBCs are not in a mood to go by it.

BJP has made efforts to consolidate its strength in OBC to checkmate pro-Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil to compensate for the loss of votes from the Maratha voters as witnessed during the general elections.

As far as Maha Vikas Aghadi is concerned, the NCP SP chief Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Nana Patole have reiterated that they will go for the caste census and increase the 50 per cent quota limit to provide reservation to the Maratha, Dhangar other communities.

Further, they see that the more BJP tightens its grip over OBCs, the more it may face wrath from the Maratha community. The Maha Vikas Aghadi is making all efforts to encash the growing disgruntlement against the BJP and the MahaYuti in general.

Although Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has claimed that the MahaYuti government will not allow the gang war to revive in Mumbai, the killing of NCP leader and former minister Baba Siddique and NCP’s Byculla office bearer has given ammunition to the Maha Vikas Aghadi to corner the MahaYuti on the crucial law and order issue.

The Badlapur sexual abuse case and the death of its main accused Akshay Shinde will be another issue in which both sides are going to take on each other.

Moreover, the Maha Vikash Aghadi government is determined to corner the MahaYuti over the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue at Malvan’s fort and the alleged corruption in its installation. The Shiv Sena UBT has already announced that after coming to power the temples of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj will be constructed in the state.

As the campaign gathers momentum, the Maha Vikas Aghadi claims that the MahaYuti and BJP in particular may revive the Hindu-Muslim issue and polarise it. On its part, BJP and MahaYuti have decided to corner the Maha Vikas Aghadi charging them for playing appeasement politics.

Knives are out from both MahaYuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi to consolidate their hold over Maharashtra in the coming election.

(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)

--IANS

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