Checkmate: How the BJP Won and Lost Maharashtra

by Sudhir Suryawanshi

He said, ‘Fadnavis sidelined mass leaders and promoted the coterie of Girish Mahajan, Jaykumar Rawal, Prasad Lad, Pravin Darekar and Ram Kadam. This Night Club Gang would meet at Varsha after 10 p.m. every day and conspire to strengthen the local opponents of the mass leaders,’ he alleged in a letter to the media.33

three-time member of Parliament and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s descendant Udayanraje Bhosale left the NCP and joined hands with the BJP

Sharad Pawar had not only defeated his political rivals but also a deadly disease like cancer in 2014.

His biggest regret was his tobacco addiction.

The Congress and the NCP were defeated in the urban pockets including in the financial capital, Mumbai. In Mumbai, the Congress won four seats against the five it got in 2014, while the NCP won only one seat.1

The NCP swept western Maharashtra, while the Congress had gained significantly in Vidarbha.

Devendra Fadnavis became the second chief minister of Maharashtra, after Vasantrao Naik, to have made history by being in power for the whole tenure of five years.

sidelined Maratha–Kunbi voters and gave prominence to Munde, who belong to the Vanjari community.

Ajit Pawar was taking each step in consultation with Sharad Pawar.

The NCP chief, Sharad Pawar, got wind of this development around 12.30 or 1 a.m. on 23 November.

Nagpur-based Sachin Kurve, secretary to the governor at Raj Bhavan, collected the papers from Ajoy Mehta.

24 The NCP MLA Zirwal Narhari Sitaram, who had been called by Ajit Pawar to Raj Bhavan, told

Then Sharad Pawar reached out to Tejas Thakkar, a childhood friend of Munde’s who was in Pune; Thakkar rushed to Mumbai and they started searching for Munde.

Several NCP legislators even told the Sena leaders that they should receive some amount of money for remaining loyal to Sharad Pawar.

A huge risk was involved. But Sonia Doohan was a true Haryanvi in spirit.

The NCP legislators were staying on the fifth floor of the hotel.

Zirwal Narhari and Nitin Pawar who were still lodged in the same hotel. However,

After landing in Mumbai, Pawar warmly greeted Sonia Doohan, Dheeraj Sharma and their team and appreciated their marvellous work at such a crucial time.

Prakash Akolkar in his book Jai Maharashtra, in the chapter ‘Sattagrahanantar Sangharsh [Struggle after Coming to Power]’,

Vaibhav Purandare’s Bal Thackeray and the Rise of the Shiv Sena,

and today it is barely 28 per cent in Mumbai. The influx from the other states is high.

Praising his candidature, Shiv Sena MP and the editor of Saamana, Sanjay Raut, said, ‘Chandrayaan 2 could not land on the moon but we will ensure that this Suryavan [Aaditya Thackeray] reaches the sixth floor of the Mantralaya [the chief minister’s office] on 24 October [the day of the state poll results].’

‘There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.’