‘Maha Yudh’: Post Sena-NCP splits, loyalties to be tested

MAHARASHTRA ASSEMBLY POLLS

MUMBAI: With half-a-dozen key players post splits in the Shiv Sena and NCP, a fragmented polity, Maratha quota stir and a spirited Opposition, Maharashtra will see a riveting contest in the Assembly polls amid dramatic changes since the last elections.

Elections to the 288-member assembly, the second-largest after Uttar Pradesh (403), will be held on November 20 in a single phase and counting of votes will be on November 23, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.

The Nanded Lok Sabha by-polls, necessitated due to the death of Congress MP Vasant Chavan, will also be held on November 20.

The Mahayuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is banking on its flagship scheme, Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which poor women get a monthly stipend of Rs 1,500, to sway voters after the ruling bloc's poor show in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Rs 46,000 crore a year welfare scheme is being widely seen as a "game changer" for the ruling bloc which comprises the BJP, Shinde's Shiv Sena and the NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who joined the government just over a year ago after parting ways with his uncle Sharad Pawar.