In the run up to the Maharashtra assembly elections, the politically strategic state has witnessed turf wars like no other with long-time friends that turned foes, high-octane campaigning, pot-shots and mudslinging and an unprecedented media Blitzkrieg. On the 15th of October, 4,119 candidates across 288 constituencies will battle for votes. CNBC-TV18's reporting team briefs on the 4-pronged battle between the Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena along with the low-lying MNS that could checkmate all of them. CONGRESS
Fifteen long years and the Congress party is still struggling to prove itself. A split from its 15-year ally, NCP, that pushed the state under the President's rule, has left Congress fight a lone battle. After resigning from the post of the CM, Congress's poster boy Prithviraj Chavan is taking on not just other contesting parties but the Prime Minister himself. Nevertheless, will the Congress-NCP break up cost Congress its win? Will rural Maharashtra once again instil faith in the congress party? We do not know yet, but Congress promises to:
- increasing financial assistance for affordable housing- construct 1-lakh homes by MHADA over 5 years - making provisions for over 15 hours of power supply to farmers - Rs 500 crore fund for drought-prone areas- 60 percent of special economic zones to be used for industrial development and 40 percent for infrastructure development - connecting key corridors through metro and mono rails in Mumbai Congress's estranged partner, the Nationalist Congress Party, is fighting a do-or-die battle.
An embarrassing show at the Lok Sabha elections, break-up with its 15-year-old ally and an exodus of 53 party members to rival BJP has left the grand old party of Maharashtra struggling. NCP though is hoping that the BJP-Shiv Sena split and its domination of the local institutions and caste equation will help it majorly in rural Maharashtra. However, if the massive turnout at the first ever BJP rally by Narendra Modi in Sharad Pawar's bastion, Baramati, is anything to go by, NCP may have already lost some turf.
That is why NCP is trying hard to please everyone. Its manifesto promises - pensions to old marginal farmers, - increasing irrigation span and providing electricity to farmers- an industry friendly state with new industrial policy, - favourable tax regime, - abolishing local body tax, - exempting industries from property tax. - connect the state with a 1000 km long expressway and airlines services. BJP
Congress and NCP are on shaky ground, but BJP is emerging as a strong rival in Maharashtra. For the first time, the fortunes of the party are changing in a state long considered a Congress bastion. By breaking its 25-year-old alliance with Shiv Sena, BJP is taking the fight to regions where they could never reach. What has given the party a shot in the arm is its star campaigner, PM Narendra Modi who has addressed all election rallies in the absence of any significant leader from Maharashtra. Opinion polls are already predicting that the Modi factor may sweep the polls for BJP just the way it did in the Lok Sabha elections. The party in its manifesto has refrained from supporting its long standing promise of Vidarbha separation but - vows to develop two SEZs for the benefit of the cotton textile industry in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. - scrap local body tax - implement an initiative called 'Made in Maharashtra' to boost the manufacturing sector SHIV SENA
Maharashtra's assembly elections could have marked the silver wedding anniversary for the Shiv Sena and BJP. Instead, their 25-year-old marriage ended in an acrimonious divorce caused by a fierce tug-of-war for seats in the legislative assembly and the desire of each party to field their own candidates for the chief ministerial post. Making his party's manifesto public barely 5 days before the elections, Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray has refrained from raking up Maharashtrian sentiments in this year's campaigning and has chosen to focus on development issues instead.
The party has resolved to- expedite infrastructure development in Mumbai through a coastal road project, freeing of Mumbai Port Trust land, development of the eastern coast and completion of the Navi Mumbai airport. - convert Mahalaxmi Racecourse into a world-class park. - develop Maharashtra as a business and agriculture hub,- improve healthcare facilities across the state - abolish LBT- affordable housing for the common man He may not have blowed his trumpet as loudly as the others in this assembly election, but Uddhav Thackeray's estranged cousin, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, is certainly being keenly watched. Will MNS remain a small cog in the wheel, or will it prove to be the ultimate party pooper by splitting the vote bank for parties or will the two brothers kiss and patch up to form an alliance? It is anybody's guess.
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