Maharashtra with its 48 seats in the Lok Sabha has been an important part in setting up the mathematics for the national stage. NDA’s victory in the 2014 general elections saw an important contribution by BJP winning 23 out of the 24 seats it contested on and its alliance partner Shiv Sena winning 18 out of the 20 seats. The 2014 general elections also saw BJP’s main opposition Congress and the NCP being reduced from 17 and 8 to just 2 and 4 seats respectively.
The 2019 general elections has also been witnessing similar trends in favor of the NDA. Tall leaders in Maharashtra seem to have already gauged the winds in favor of NDA. With tall leaders like Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Prithviraj Chauhan of the Congress refusing to contest, anti-UPA speculations had surely impacted the electoral process. This increasing vacuum of leadership in the opposition parties might also lead to a total collapse of the party machinery and ultimately huge electoral losses for the already struggling UPA opposition in Maharashtra. Pre-poll surveys of various organizations had also indicated a positive edge for the NDA.
As the results have started pouring in from the Election Commission, worst fears of the Congress and the NCP seem to be turning into reality. BJP is poised to make huge inroads into Congress and NCP strongholds adding to the tally of 2014 general election. According to recent trends in counting, BJP is leading on 44 out of the 48 seats in the state. These leads by the BJP is surely coming as BJP dislodges Congress and the NCP from their strongholds.
Maharashtra under the leadership of CM Devendra Fadnavis in the state has been seeing positive trends towards execution of a number of development schemes. Vidarbha, a region of eastern Maharashtra, which had for long been on the back seat of Maharashtra’s political agenda, has taken the spotlight after unprecedented development in the region after BJP formed the government in the state. The national and state governments with their combined efforts have been successful in implementing ambitious development programs in the state.
NCP is also set to suffer huge electoral defeats at the hands of BJP’s juggernaut. Former CM of Maharashtra, former union cabinet minister and veteran NCP leader Sharad Pawar had also opted out of the Lok Sabha race. Sharad Pawar, who after his multiple stints in the Congress party, ultimately left the party in 1999 on grounds of dispute over his views on Congress having a native-born prime ministerial candidate and not Sonia Gandhi who was born in Italy. Sharad Pawar then co-founded NCP in June of 1999. He in a meeting with his party workers had informed them, about his decision to not contest Lok Sabha elections from Madha Constituency in 2019 elections which is currently held by NCP’s Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil.
According to current trends by the Election Commission, BJP is leading in Madha. Even Sharad Pawar’s grand nephew and Ajit Pawar’s son, Parth Pawar is also set to face an embarrassing defeat from Maval. According to EC Parth Pawar is trailing by more than 1.5 Lakhs votes. Many experts had pointed out that Parth Pawar with his limited political knowledge was parachuted into the electoral battleground of Maval, an industrial and farming region in western Maharashtra. Parth has been called out with his initial impressions for being clueless about politics, lacking on-stage charisma and “speaking Marathi like an Englishman”. These elections have surely been seeing political dynasties getting decimated in the polls in contest with politics of development. As counting progresses, a clearer picture of the damage to political dynasties is sure to get more evident.