#DeepDiveWithOutlook | Exploring Maharashtra's fractured political landscape ahead of the 2024 Assembly Elections: from party splits and shifting alliances to voter confusion and campaign promises, it's shaping up to be a pivotal contest.
Stay tuned for more updates!
Reporter/Script: Rani Jana
Camera: Suresh Pandey
Editor: Ehraz Zaman
#Maharashtra #MH #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls #MaharashtraElections2024 #Elections2024 #NCP #ShivSena #Congress #BJP #RSS #MahayutiAlliance #MVA #MahaVikasAghadi #Government #India #RegionalPolitics #News #Media
Follow this story and more: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Stay tuned for more updates!
Reporter/Script: Rani Jana
Camera: Suresh Pandey
Editor: Ehraz Zaman
#Maharashtra #MH #MaharashtraAssemblyPolls #MaharashtraElections2024 #Elections2024 #NCP #ShivSena #Congress #BJP #RSS #MahayutiAlliance #MVA #MahaVikasAghadi #Government #India #RegionalPolitics #News #Media
Follow this story and more: https://www.outlookindia.com/
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NewsTranscript
00:00Maharashtra is gearing up for the polls with voting for all 288 assembly seats happening
00:06in a single phase on the 20th of November.
00:09The results will be declared on the 23rd.
00:12This is the first assembly election since the 2022 political crisis when the two main
00:17regional parties, the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party or the NCP split into two factions.
00:25This year's assembly elections are also seeing over a hundred independent candidates along
00:30with many proxy candidates believed to be vote cutters.
00:34Welcome to Deep Dive with Outlook, today we will be revisiting the splits and factions
00:38that have reshaped Maharashtra's political scene.
00:42The Mahayoti Alliance is led by the ruling BJP contesting for 148 seats.
00:48Eknath Shinde's faction of Shiv Sena will be contesting 80 seats and Ajit Pawar's faction
00:54of the NCP will contest 53 seats.
00:58On the other side, the opposition Mahavikas Aghadi or the MDA coalition includes the Congress
01:04contesting on 101 seats, Uddhav Thackeray's faction of Shiv Sena contesting 94 seats and
01:11Sharad Pawar's faction of the NCP contesting 88 seats.
01:16The split and the emergence of new party symbols with the same party names have managed to
01:21confuse voters.
01:23The voters are also confused about the ideological alignment in this fractured political landscape.
01:29Shinde's Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar's NCP, both part of the Mahayoti have retained their
01:36original party symbols, the bow and arrow for the Shiv Sena and the clock for the NCP.
01:42On the other hand, the Election Commission of India has allotted a mashaal or torch to
01:47Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction and a man blowing the tutari to Sharad Pawar's NCP faction.
01:54Looking back to 2019, the state saw a clear divide, the BJP and its oldest ally the Shiv
02:00Sena ideologically right-wing and the Congress-NCP alliance running on a secular ideology.
02:08After the elections, the Shiv Sena had a fallout with the BJP over the CM's post, leading to
02:14a surprising realignment.
02:16The Shiv Sena joined forces with the Congress and the NCP to form a new government with
02:22Uddhav Thackeray as CM.
02:24However, after two and a half years in power, Shinde and Ajit Pawar rebelled, leading to
02:30the creation of the two factions of the Sena and the NCP.
02:35This year, the MVA is leveraging the Marathi Asmita or Marathi Pride sentiment, accusing
02:42the BJP of breaking up regional parties.
02:45The Mahayoti alliance is banking on Hindutva and identity politics to get an upper hand.
02:51However, to woo the voters, both the coalitions have announced a slew of freebies, promises
02:58and guarantees.
03:00The MVA has promised that under the Mahalakshmi scheme, women will receive Rs 3,000 per month
03:06and free transportation on government buses across Maharashtra.
03:10They have also promised farm loan waivers.
03:14According to the NCRB, Maharashtra constituted 36.7% of farmer suicides in the country, making
03:21it the number one state with this issue.
03:24The Mahayoti alliance, on the other hand, has promised an increase in the dole from
03:29Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 per year under the Shirkari Samman Yojana to ease farmer distress.
03:37Shinde has also promised that if the alliance comes into power, it will increase the funds
03:43provided to women under the Ladki Bahen Yojana from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,100.
03:50The state is currently reeling under a heavy debt.
03:54A CAG report reveals that Maharashtra has to repay a debt of Rs 2.75 lakh crore by 2030.
04:02This makes fulfilling election promises difficult and suggests that additional freebies and
04:07incentives provided by the Mahayoti and the MVA during campaigning could further hurt
04:14the state's finances.
04:16Pune-based political analyst Arun Giri suggests that Maharashtra voters have suffered due
04:22to political infighting in the last five years, with the electoral mandates sidelined to support
04:28political one-upmanship.
04:29Voters, he says, do not like to be taken for granted, with anger and resentment simmering
04:36beneath the surface.
04:37We may be in for surprising results this time around.
04:41For more updates on Maharashtra Assembly elections, stay tuned.