Maharashtra’s 288-member Legislative Assembly went to the polls in a single phase on November 20 as the current House’s term is set to expire on November 26. The state is seeing an unprecedented churn in its politics as former foes are now allies and former friends battled each other for the Chief Minister’s throne in India’s richest state. The two coalitions vying for power are the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), apart from parties like Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Samajwadi Party (SP)
The Mahayuti led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), comprising of Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde (Sena) and Nationalist Congress Party led by Ajit Pawar (NCP) faced the MVA comprising of Congress, a Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray [Sena (UBT)] and an NCP faction led by its founder Sharad Pawar [NCP(SP)]. These four parties – BJP, Sena, NCP and Congress – have ruled Maharashtra in turns since the State’s inception in 1960.
Through The Hindu’s pages, we examine the struggle for a separate Marathi-speaking State, the rise of Congress and Shiv Sena, the arrival of Janata Party and Emergency, the political nexus of cooperatives and notable chief ministers like Vasant Patil, Shankarrao Chavan, and Sharad Pawar. Organisations like the RSS, descendants of royal Maratha families, Communists, and Ambedkarites have also added their own chapters to Maharashtra’s polity.
Rebellion has always been a constant occurrence in Maharashtra’s game of power and we will see this in The Hindu’s stories on Sharad Pawar, Narayan Rane, Chhagan Bhujbal, Raj Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray, Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde. We will also see how riots, terror attacks, bomb blasts in India’s financial capital – Mumbai have bloodied The Hindu’s frontpages for decades. From the ‘Marathi manoos’ to a fight for ‘Hindutva’, we will see how the Sena-BJP alliance rose, soured and now stands against each other.
Take a look at Maharashtra”s complex political history through the eyes of The Hindu.
The clamour for a separate State for the Marathi speaking population had been growing even before independence. After much discussion and debate- and two planned divisions- the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat came into being on May 1, 1960.
The Congress maintained its grip on Bombay State and the succeeding Maharashtra for three decades. The rise of the Shiv Sena, with the tacit quasi-permission of the Congress set in motion currents that were to bring the Congress hegemony to an end.
Sharad Pawar revolted against Congress (U) and formed the Indian National Congress (Socialist) with 68 MLAs, joining hands with the Janata Party and socialist parties. The creation of the Progressive Democratic Front (पुरोगामी लोकशाही दल ) in Maharashtra was among the first such coalitions in a major State.
Congress came back to power and regimes changed in Maharashtra State. During this time, the Ram Janmabhoomi fervour swept across the nation, culminating in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. This had ripple effects across the country, and Bombay witnessed terrible riots in December 1992 and January 1993. Serial bomb blasts also rocked the city in 1993, ushering in a new reign of communal strife and terror in the city.
The Shiv Sena- BJP combine came to power in Maharashtra with Hindutva as a shared ideology. Bal Thackeray was said to be the remote control behind the Chief Minister and BJP was hesitant to make moves without the approval of ‘big brother’ Sena. Cracks began to emerge in the alliance, leading to a resurgence of other parties at the turn of the century.
A renewed rebellion by Sharad Pawar ended Congress’ rule in Maharashtra, giving birth to the UPA coalition era of 15 years
Raj Thackeray split from the Sena family to form MNS which began on a violent note by attacking North Indians. These years also saw major terror attacks – Malegaon & Mumbai 26/11 attack
The scam-riddled UPA years came to a close as Hindutva and BJP rose led by Narendra Damodardas Modi
Swept by a ‘Modi wave’, Maharashtra saw the rise of its own BJP strongman – Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis
The BJP-Sena alliance came to an end as the two parties squabbled for equal power, giving birth to an unlikely coalition – the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress alliance – Maha Vikas Aghadi
Regional parties Shiv Sena and NCP split vertically into two as Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar rebelled to revive the Mahayuti, setting an unprecedented fight between factions of the same parties.