Is there sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar? Maha minister Chhagan Bhujbal believes so

The Lok Sabha elections 2024 in Maharashtra are becoming nail-biting with every passing day. State minister and senior leader of the ruling Mahayuti alliance Chhagan Bhujbal said in a recent interview that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might face a stiff challenge from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance in the state. 

But what could be advantage MVA over the ruling Mahayuti? During a recent interview with NDTV, Bhujbal opined that there is a sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.  "I believe there is a sympathy wave- the way Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena split and a faction of the NCP switched sides. This is showing in their rallies. It doesn't seem like they are falling the way they did in 2014 and 2019," Bhujbal said. 

In 2022, the current Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and a group of MLAs staged a rebellion, leading to the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led state government. Following this, Eknath Shinde aligned with the BJP and took oath as the chief minister, making Devendra Fadnavis his Deputy CM and splitting the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena into two.  

The Shiv Sena was split into two factions-- Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Shiv Sena (UBT) and Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. In February last year, the Election Commission recognised Eknath Shinde's faction as the "real" Shiv Sena. Later, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also faced a similar fate when Sharad Pawar's nephew Ajit Pawar split the party and joined hands with the ruling alliance and became a deputy CM. 

Despite sounding the warning on sympathy wave for Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, Bhujbal mentioned that people have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and want him to win the ongoing general elections. He also said that people want Prime Minister Modi to "form a strong government." 

Commenting on the Opposition's charge that the NDA wants to win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections as it wants to amend the Constitution, Maharashtra minister said people think the 'ab ki baar 400 paar' slogan is about changing the Constitution and former Karnataka MLA Anantkumar Hegde has also given a statement on similar lines. 

"PM Modi has, however, said several times that the Constitution is strong and it can't be changed even by BR Ambedkar himself. But this message is being given to the people. The impact will be seen only when the ballot boxes are opened," he added. Meanwhile, Chhagan Bhujbal on Friday withdrew from contesting the Nashik Lok Sabha constituency. 

Bhujbal said in the interview that he was not asked for the ticket but was in fact told by other leaders in the NCP during Holi that he would contest from Nashik. According to him, this was conveyed to him after a late-night meet between the allies in Delhi where seats were discussed. 

He added that Eknath Shinde reportedly wanted Nashik for Shinde Sena as it is his base and he and his son have been MLAs from there. Chhagan Bhujbal's nephew Sameer Bhujbal is an MP from the seat. "If I have to contest, I want to do so with respect. I know my status. I don't like asking for tickets. The only time I asked for a ticket was from (Shiv Sena founder) Bal Thackeray for the municipal corporation in Mumbai in 1970," he said. 

Bhujbal said that since he has been involved in ticket distribution for a long time, waiting for so long did not feel right, hence, he decided not to contest this time around.