MUMBAI - The stage is set for the Oct 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra where the ruling Congress-led alliance faces a stiff challenge from the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine for the control of one of India’s most industrialized states.
The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) say they are confident of retaining power in the state they have ruled for 10 long years. The BJP and Shiv Sena are equally determined to unseat the Congress-NCP coalition.
Although Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh will also see elections Oct 13, it is Maharashtra whose outcome will be keenly watched.
In 2004, the Congress and NCP won 139 seats in the 288-member assembly. The Shiv Sena and BJP finished with 119 seats while smaller groups as well as independents secured 30 seats.
This time, Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has cast a long shadow on the Shiv Sena and BJP. For the Congress, the Republican-Left alliance is a worry.
With his penchant for aggression, Raj Thackeray is giving sleepless nights to the Shiv Sena.
In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, the MNS undercut the Shiv Sena and BJP in at least 10 Lok Sabha constituencies.
The elections will be a credibility test for Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who took charge of Maharashtra after the November 2008 terror attack on Mumbai.
Others also need to prove their worth.
A victory for the BJP would catapult Gopinath Munde, who is spearheading the party’s campaign, to the coveted position once enjoyed by his brother-in-law, the late Pramod Mahajan.
For Shiv Sena’s Udhav Thackeray, this is the first assembly election in which he will compete less with the ruling combine than his own estranged cousin Raj Thackeray.
Electoral success will firm up the leadership of Udhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena where his detractors are now quiet because of the still-charismatic personality of his iconic father Bal Thackeray.
A total of 3,559 candidates, including 211 women, are in the fray. There will be over 84,000 polling booths.
In the absence of clear and credible issues, the elections are being fought around individual personalities. And many are calling one another names — frogs, snakes, insects, worms.
Farmland deaths, floods, drought, security and price rise have been relegated to the backburnder.
Hopefully, the 77 million voters might remember these before clicking the relevant buttons on the electronic voting machines Tuesday.
Related News
Government will continue its war against Naxals, says Maharashtra Home MinisterOctober 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - Jolted by the killing of 20 policemen by Maoists in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, the state Home Minister, Jayant Patil, on Friday said the Government will continue to fight the menace. "Our battle against Naxals will continue.
Maharashtra, Chattisgarh police launch manhunt for NaxalsOctober 9th, 2009 MUMBAI - The Maharashtra Government has launched a massive manhunt for Naxals along the state's border with Chattisgarh. On Thursday, Naxals killed between 17 and 20 policemen in Maharashtra's Gadchiroli district, which shares borders with Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
BJP names more candidates for Maharashtra, Haryana pollsSeptember 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) Monday announced its second list of 40 candidates for the Oct 13 assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. The party also finalised the names of candidates for by-election to three seats in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, according to an official statement here.
Deshmukh to head Congress' Maharashtra poll panelSeptember 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Friday appointed Heavy Industries Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh as chairman of the election management committee for Maharashtra polls. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi has nominated Vilasrao Deshmukh as the chairman of the election management committee for the ensuing assembly election in Maharashtra," Janardan Dwivedi, chairman of party's media department, said in a release here.
Maharashtra, Haryana vote count may be advanced: poll panelSeptember 5th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Election Commission of India (ECI) Saturday indicated that it could consider advancing the counting of votes in assembly elections to be held in Maharashtra and Haryana next month. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Navin Chawla said here that the long gap between the polling (Oct 13) and the counting (Oct 22) for assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh was kept in view of the Diwali festival season next month and also due to the tough terrain in Arunachal Pradesh.
Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal on Oct 13August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Assembly polls in the three Congress-ruled states of Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh will be held simultaneously Oct 13, the Election Commission announced Monday. The counting of votes will take place nine days later, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla told reporters here.
Elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Arunachal on Oct 13 (Second Lead)August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The three Congress-ruled states of Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh will elect new assemblies Oct 13 in the first popularity test after the April-May Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission said the results of the single-phase balloting will be known Oct 22.
Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrate their formation dayMay 1st, 2009 MUMBAI/AHMEDABAD - Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrated their formation day on Friday. On the occasion, Maharashtra Governor S.
Left faces tough battle but will win in Bengal, says KaratApril 14th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal's ruling Left Front faces a tough battle in the Lok Sabha polls but will still win a majority of the state's 42 states, Marxist leader Prakash Karat said Tuesday. 'My party's assessment is that we'll have a tough battle in this election,' the general secretary of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) said at an interaction at the Kolkata Press Club.
Congress, NCP strike seat deal in MaharashtraMarch 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - After its failure to cobble a poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, the Congress party Monday stuck a deal over sharing of seats with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra. 'We will fight unitedly as alliance partners in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra Police for IPL after pollsMarch 21st, 2009 MUMBAI - Maharashtra Police on Friday said it would be better if the Indian Premier League (IPL) is held in the state after elections.aharashtra's Director General (Elections) Suprabhat Chakravarty suggested that the tournament should be put on hold till the election is over. "There is no point in putting extra strain on policemen.
Congress, NCP strike alliance in MaharashtraMarch 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress and its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday struck an alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan told reporters that the two parties had arrived at a seat-sharing arrangement for 40 of the 48 seats in the state.
Maharashtra polls on April 16, 23 and 30March 3rd, 2009 MUMBAI - Maharashtra goes to the polls over three phases on April 16, 23 and 30 to elect its 48 representatives to the Lok Sabha. Voting for the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Goa will be held on April 23, the Election Commission announced Monday.
15 policemen gunned down in Maharashtra Maoist attackJanuary 31st, 2009 MUMBAI - At least 15 policemen were killed in a Maoist ambush of a police search squad in a forested area of eastern Maharashtra Sunday, an official said. According to the official, Maoist insurgents attacked the police squad around 11 a.m.
CPI-M predicts tough electoral battle in West BengalJanuary 16th, 2009 KOLKATA - Admitting that the coming Lok Sabha battle will be tough, the Communist Party of India - Marxist (CPI-M), the leading party in West Bengal's ruling Left Front (LF), Saturday alleged that all opposition political forces in the state including the separatist elements, Maoists and right-wing parties have joined hands to defeat the front. Resolving that the LF would contest the election together, the CPI-M asked its cadre to strengthen the organisation at the booth level across the state.
Loading ...