MASTER OF THE GAME

BJP’s poor show and Congress’s stunning comeback in Maharashtra owe a lot to Sharad Pawar’s skilful moves

- DNYANESH JATHAR

The big defeat handed by voters to the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra did not come as a surprise. Even though BJP leaders refused to acknowledge it, there was a strong undercurrent of anti-incumbency in the state against the Narendra Modi government.

Add to it the sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar for the way the BJP split their parties (the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party, respectively), robbing them of long-held party symbols and even the Election Commission’s original party status. People saw it as part of the BJP’s alleged manipulation of constitutional bodies. The icing on the cake was Rahul Gandhi’s two yatras, which saw the consolidation of traditional Congress vote banks— Dalits, Muslims and tribals.

The BJP has been the biggest loser. It won only nine of 28 seats contested. Three of its Union ministers— Bharati Pawar, Raosaheb Danve and Kapil Patil—bit the dust.

Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party, a BJP ally, contested four seats but won just one. For all his bluster, he could not secure victory for his wife, Sunetra Pawar, in Baramati. Sharad Pawar proved his hold on the constituency by ensuring daughter Supriya Sule’s victory.

Among BJP allies, it was Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena that performed relatively well. It won seven of 15 seats it had contested.