The Maharashtra assembly election results 2024 came as a rude awakening for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar). The Shiv Sena faction, led by Uddhav Thackeray, however, got a jolt out of the blue.
The Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena absolutely vanquished the Shiv Sena (UBT) not only in terms of the number of seats won but also the strike rate.
As per the Election Commission, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena is leading on 55 seats and has won on 2 seats. The Shiv Sena (UBT), on the other hand, is leading on 18 seats.
In the recent assembly elections, the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Shinde logged a strike rate of more than 70 per cent as it won 57 of the 81 seats it contested. Uddhav Sena, on the other hand, has scored a strike rate of 20.6 per cent as it won only 18 of the 92 seats it fielded its candidates on.
A prime example is Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's bastion -- Kopri-Pachpakhadi. Here, the Shiv Sena (UBT) was hoping to counter Shinde by fielding Anand Dighe's nephew Kedar Dighe on the issue of legacy. Despite Uddhav's claims of being betrayed, how did the Shinde Sena fare so well?
While the Uddhav Thackeray-led was busy catering to the Muslim voters in the state, the Eknath Shinde-led Sena focussed its campaign on the Mahayuti's welfare schemes such as Ladki Bahin scheme as well as the Hindutva politics.
While Uddhav was seen as unapproachable by many, Shinde was perceived as an extremely hardworking leader with strong grassroots connect.
Uddhav's dependence on the Muslim votebank provided enough arsenal to Shinde to sustain the campaign besides the Mahayuti's welfare schemes and developmental works.
Shinde positioned himself as the one supported by 'real Shiv Sainiks' and juxtaposed his grassroots approach with Uddhav's alleged appeasement of the Muslim vote bank alongwith the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP.
In this election, Uddhav Thackeray has turned out to be the biggest loser as he not only performed below par in terms of vote share but also lost the real Shiv Sena battle to Eknath Shinde.