The curtain has fallen on a highly polarised and intense election campaign for the Maharashtra assembly polls, with voting set to take place on November 20 across all 288 Assembly constituencies. The political battlelines have been drawn and the State is bracing for a high-stakes contest with votes scheduled to be counted on November 23.

At the forefront is the ruling alliance, the Mahayuti, which includes the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. This coalition is pinning its hopes on an array of popular welfare schemes implemented by them, notably the Majhi Ladki Bahin initiative for women, to retain its hold on power. The BJP highlighted slogans, such as “Batenge toh katenge” and “Ek hai toh safe hai” along with highlighting development works by the State and the Centre.  

Meanwhile, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — comprising the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP — focused on calls for a caste-based census, social justice measures and the protection of constitution. Throughout the campaign MVA made Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis a focal point of their criticisms. The opposition coalition, strategically singled out Fadnavis as a symbol of the ruling alliance’s governance shortcomings.

The final days of campaigning saw a parade of political heavyweights crisscrossing Maharashtra to rally support. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were prominent figures for the BJP, while Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spearheaded the opposition’s charge. Several Union Ministers also took to the campaign trail to bolster their party’s prospects.

The BJP is contesting 149 seats, while its ally, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, has fielded candidates in 81 constituencies. The Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP is in the race in 59 seats. On the opposition side, the Congress is contesting 101 seats, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has put forth candidates in 95 constituencies, and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) is competing in 86 seats.

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