Will Uddhav be the next Maharashtra CM?

Mumbai: Will BJP let Uddhav Thackeray be the next chief minister of Maharashtra, if the alliance garner a majority? Of course, BJP would like to have its own chief ministerial candidate; but at the same time, it would not like to upset the apple cart.      

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen that the party contest the assembly elections in tandem with the Shiv Sena. “There could be some differences during the seat-sharing talks. But, our brief is clear that nothing should be done which will weaken the alliance with the Shiv Sena. Uddhav enjoys a good personal equation with Modi and we are certain that the glitches with regard to sharing of seats will be sorted out well before the polls,” a BJP office-bearer stated.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray has asked his party workers to unfurl the saffron flag atop Maharashtra Secretariat to fulfil the dream of late Bal Thackeray. He attributed poll success to the vision of the late Thackeray but did not mention Modi even once in the speech at a rally of party workers and 18-newly elected Sena Lok Sabha members in suburban Andheri on Sunday night.

Promising to turn Mumbai into a global city, Uddhav said Sena would help streamline Mumbai’s infrastructure projects. Sena veteran Manohar Joshi, who was booed off stage at the party’s dusehra rally last year by its workers who were upset with him for questioning Uddhav’s leadership, was present on stage. 

Though Uddhav did not speak about his contesting Assembly poll or chief ministerial ambitions, media reports quoted party spokesperson Sanjay Raut as saying that the Sena president would be nominee for the CM’s post.

MNS chief Raj Thackery is projecting himself as his party’s chief ministerial candidate. Nitin Sardesai, the MLA representing Dadar, has offered his seat to his party chief Raj Thackeray. This was confirmed by Raj himself at a public meeting held at Somaiya Ground in Sion on Saturday.

Dadar is a politically significant constituency with the headquarters of both the Shiv Sena and MNS situated there. It was a bastion of the Shiv Sena till Sardesai won the seat in the last assembly election, much to the discomfort of the Shiv Sena. However, in the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Shiv Sena secured a lead over the MNS in the Dadar assembly segment.

An MNS corporator, who declined to be named, also stated that Raj will be contesting from Dadar. However, he added that the Nashik unit of the party is keen on Raj contesting from there. “Raj saheb may contest from both Dadar and Nashik, just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who fought the Lok Sabha elections from Vadodara and Varanasi,” he added.

Mumbai is the economic power centre of the country. It is in this hub that BJP-SS has wrested all the 6 Lok Sabha seats from Congress-NCP. Even the sure-shot seats of Congress’s Priya Dutt in North Central constituency and Milind Deora in South Mumbai constituency were snatched away.

With a clamour for economic stability, good governance and development in Maharashtra which has suffered regression at the hands of an inefficient, indifferent Cong-NCP combine, the Assembly poll results in Mumbai are likely to be a repeat of the Lok Sabha election results, even if they are held after five months. 

Assembly elections in Maharashtra are going to be keenly watched as for the first time, MNS was not able to play spoiler in the Lok Sabha elections this time and will have to rethink his strategy.

Maharashtra has 288 Assembly seats and political experts believe that the saffron alliance is likely to put its stamp on at least 230 seats, if not more. This figure is based on the leads that its candidates have had in these 230 assembly constituencies during the Lok Sabha elections that gave it the thumping victory. With the remaining 58 assembly constituencies where Cong-NCP combine secured leads, the chances of it retaining them is likely, though not sure.

With the mood of economic stability in voters’ minds, even MNS is unlikely to receive favourable response from voters in Mumbai and elsewhere in the Assembly elections. Neither AAP is likely to make any impact.

As for the Konkan coastal belt of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, it was dominated by Narayan Rane, erstwhile Shiv Sena leader who later joined Congress and was the Industries Minister until he resigned after the poll debacle.

In other regions like Vidarbha which comprises Nagpur and Amravati divisions and where the cry for an independent state (Vidharba) has not dimmed, the troubling news for the ruling combine is that political heavyweight of BJP, Nitin Gadkari won the elections from Nagpur which has been traditionally a Congress bastion.

Similarly, the Marathwada and Khandesh and North Maharashtra region has witnessed rout for the Cong-NCP alliance. The key loser here being NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal. It is expected that the saffron alliance, which is in an upbeat mood will fortify as many assembly constituencies to keep up the unprecedented positive mandate it has received.

Meanwhile, the voter from Maharashtra seems to be hell bent on pinning hopes on that party which will deliver the Gujarat model; now that the dream does not seem distant at all.