Shiv Sena is a right-wing Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray. Currently led by Eknath Shinde, this party is the ruling party of the Indian state of Maharashtra since 2019. Shiv Sena's election symbol is the Bow and Arrow. It uses the saffron colour in its flag and a image of a roaring tiger.
The Nationalist Congress Party is one of the state parties in India. It refers to the Ajit Pawar faction after the 2023 split in the party when the Supreme Court of India granted the original party name and symbol to the Nationalist Congress Party. It was one of the major political parties in Maharashtra and was a recognised state party in Nagaland and Kerala. In July 2023, majority of the elected MLAs and MLCs of the party led by Ajit Pawar joined the National Democratic Alliance government, however, all MPs except two remained loyal to Sharad Pawar. This caused a direct split between the Ajit Pawar-led faction and the founder and president Sharad Pawar who formed the Nationalist Congress Party after EC recognised the Ajit Pawar faction as the original party.
Uddhav Bal Thackeray is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2019 to 2022. He is a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council since 2020, the president of Maha Vikas Aghadi since 2019 and the president of Shiv Sena (UBT) since 2022. He was also the leader (pramukh) of Shiv Sena from 2013 to 2022, working President from 2003 to 2013 and the editor-in-chief of Saamana from 2006 to 2019.
Ajit Anantrao Pawar is an Indian politician who is currently serving, alongside Devendra Fadnavis, the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2 July, 2023. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2022 to 2023, and was a Member of the Parliament in the Lok Sabha in 1991, representing Baramati constituency. He has also been a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since 1991, representing Baramati constituency.
Maharashtra is India's third largest state by area and has over 112 million inhabitants. Its capital, Mumbai, has a population of approximately 18 million; Nagpur is Maharashtra's second, or winter, capital. Government in the state is organized on the parliamentary system. Power is devolved to large city councils, district councils, subdistrict (taluka) councils, and village parish councils. The numerically strong Maratha–Kunbi community dominates the state's politics. The state has national and regional parties serving different demographics, such as those based on religion, caste, and urban and rural residents.
The Indian state of Maharashtra has a bicameral legislature, comprising two houses. The lower house, known as the Legislative Assembly, is directly elected by the people and is the more powerful of the two houses. The upper house, known as the Legislative Council is elected indirectly by several specially designated electorates.
The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. It consists of 288 members directly elected from single-seat constituencies. The Assembly meets at Vidhan Bhavan in Mumbai, though the winter session is held in Nagpur. Along with the Maharashtra Legislative Council, it comprises the legislature of Maharashtra. The presiding officer of the Assembly is the Speaker. Members of the Assembly are directly elected by the people of Maharashtra through elections held every five years, unless the Assembly is dissolved earlier. The current Assembly was elected in October 2019.
Although a parliamentary democracy, Indian politics has increasingly become dynastic, possibly due to the absence of a party organization, independent civil society associations that mobilize support for the party, and centralized financing of elections. Family members have also led the Congress party for most of the period since 1978 when Indira Gandhi floated the then Congress(I) faction of the party. It also is fairly common in many political parties in Maharashtra. The dynastic phenomenon is seen from national level down to district level and even village level.The three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj established in the 1960s also helped to create and consolidate the dynastic phenomenon in rural areas. Apart from government,political families also control cooperative institutions, mainly cooperative sugar factories,district cooperative banks in the state, and since the 1980s private for profit colleges. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party also features several senior leaders who are dynasts. In Maharashtra, the NCP has particularly high level of dynasticism.
Eknath Sambhaji Shinde is an Indian politician who is serving as the 20th and current Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 30 June 2022. He is also serving as the Leader of Shiv Sena since February 2023 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly since July 2022. He is also the Member of Legislative Assembly for the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of Thane, Maharashtra since 2009 and was formerly the MLA of Thane constituency from 2004 to 2009.
The 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election was held on 21 October 2019 to elect all 288 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. After a 61.4% turnout in the election, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena (SHS) won a majority. Following differences over the government formation, the alliance was dissolved, precipitating a political crisis.
A political crisis in the Indian state of Maharashtra occurred on 21 October 2019 after the declaration of results of the 2019 legislative assembly election over the formation of a new state government. The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party Shiv Sena alliance crossed the majority of 145 seats needed in the assembly by winning a total of 161 seats in the alliance. Individually BJP won 105 and SHS won 56 seats. The Opposition INC-NCP Alliance with 106 seats did not reach the majority mark. Individually INC won 44 and NCP won 54 seats.
Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra for the second time on 23 November 2019. Alongside Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar was sworn in as the deputy chief minister. Before a Supreme Court-ordered no confidence motion could take place, Pawar resigned on 26 November. Fadnavis resigned shortly thereafter, making his second ministry the shortest Maharashtra ministry, surpassing P. K. Sawant's 1963 interim government, that had lasted for nine days.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi or Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, is a state-level political coalition formed after the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray of SHS (UBT), Sharad Pawar of the NCP and Sonia Gandhi of the INC, along with the support from the Samajwadi Party, PWPI, CPI(M) and several other political parties including Independent MLAs. MVA is currently the official opposition in Maharashtra Legislature.
Legislative Assembly elections are speculated to be held in Maharashtra in 2024 to elect the 288 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
After the 2019 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections, post-poll alliance was formed in between Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Indian National Congress to form Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Uddhav Thackeray, the president of Shiv Sena was sworn in as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 28 November 2019. Following is the list of ministers from the cabinet of Uddhav Thackeray starting from November 2019.
The 2022 Maharashtra political crisis began on 21 June 2022 in the Indian state of Maharashtra when Eknath Shinde, along with several other MLAs of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition moved to Surat in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-governed Gujarat, throwing the coalition into a crisis.
Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 30 June 2022, on resignation of his predecessor Uddhav Thackeray. Shinde leads a government consisting of Shiv Sena, the NCP and the BJP.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) (IAST: Śhiva Sēnā (Ud'dhava bāḷāsāhēba ṭhākarē); lit. 'Army of Shivaji, led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray'; abbr.SS (UBT)) is a Hindutva-based, Marathi regionalist, nationalist political party formed in 2022 under the leadership of former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray.
The Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena was a Hindu nationalist political party in India formed in 2022 and dissolved in 2023 under the leadership of Eknath Shinde, as a result of a split in the Shiv Sena. After the split, the Election Commission of India (ECI) allotted the party a new symbol as the main Shiv Sena's symbol was frozen. On 17 February 2023, the ECI granted the Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena the party name and symbol, the Shiv Sena and the Bow and Arrow, respectively.
The 2023 Nationalist Congress Party split occurred on 2 July 2023, when Ajit Pawar, along with several other party leaders, broke away from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by his uncle Sharad Pawar and joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-Shiv Sena alliance government in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, along with eight other NCP leaders who took oath as ministers. This led to a vertical split in the party, with two factions emerging: one led by Sharad Pawar and the other by Ajit Pawar. The split resulted in a legal battle over the party's name and symbol. On 6 February 2024, the Election Commission of India (ECI) awarded the party name and symbol to the faction headed by Ajit Pawar. The faction led by Sharad Pawar was subsequently recognized as Nationalist Congress Party. On 5 March 2024, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar declared the Ajit Pawar faction as the "real" NCP, citing its legislative majority.
