JMM led coalition returned to power in Jharkhand

With the governing coalition gaining up to 230 seats in the 288-member Maharashtra parliament, the BJP swept its partners in Mahayuti to a resounding win in a historic mandate that startled the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi.

The only incumbent alliance in Jharkhand to regain power after five years in government is the JMM-led coalition, which also made history in the state with a resounding win. JMM won 34 seats, but its allies—Congress 16; RJD 4; and CPI(ML) 2—got 22 more seats. 21 seats were won by the BJP. In Jharkhand, 81 seats were up for election.

With the Trinamool Congress winning every seat in West Bengal, the Congress in Karnataka, the governing NDA in Bihar, and the BJP doing well in Uttar Pradesh, the news was also positive for the ruling parties in the majority of the states in the by-elections to 48 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 seats.

In her first election, Congresswoman Priyanka Gandhi Vadra won the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election in Kerala by more over 4 lakh votes.

With 132 of the 148 seats it ran for, the BJP had an incredible strike rate in Maharashtra. The NCP and Shiv Sena, the party’s partners, also enjoyed excellent strike rates. The NCP, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, won 41 seats, while the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, won 57.

Months after losing badly in the Lok Sabha elections, when it only won 17 of 48 seats, the Mahayuti party achieved an extraordinary triumph.

Congress questioned the outcome, and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) members were rudely shocked. Out of the more than 100 seats the party ran for, just 16 were won. Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) took home 20 seats, while Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) only managed 10.

After Mahayuti’s resounding victory, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to BJP members at the party headquarters and said that records had been made.

He said that no party or pre-election coalition had achieved such a significant win in the previous fifty years.

“The BJP has become the biggest party in Maharashtra for the third time in a row, which is definitely a historic accomplishment. The BJP’s style of governing has been branded by this win. More seats have been awarded to the BJP by the Maharashtra people than to the Congress and its allies put together. This demonstrates that the nation only has faith in the BJP and the NDA for excellent government,” he remarked.

Additionally, PM Modi said that the state’s people had endorsed the BJP coalition for the third time in a row.
In his address, he also attacked Congress, calling it a “parasitic party” that betrays its partners.

After the Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena split, and after the Mahayuti tsunami struck the MVA, these were Maharashtra’s first assembly elections. In the state assembly, no opposition party has enough members to claim the title of Leader of the Opposition.

After his party split in 2022, Uddhav Thackeray lost his job as chief minister. He was eager to make a statement in the assembly elections and had called the faction headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde “traitors” on many occasions.

After splitting from the Shiv Sena, Shinde became the chief minister of Maharashtra with the backing of the BJP. In the last two and a half years, Shinde has become more popular as a result of the Mahayuti government’s welfare initiatives, such as the Ladki Bahin program.

Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena supporters believe that the outcome of the assembly elections would support their assertion that the “true Shiv Sena” is the one who truly carries on Balasaheb Thackeray’s tradition.

In July of last year, Ajit Pawar joined the governing coalition as Deputy Chief Minister, further causing a rift within the NCP. His uncle, NCP(SP) president Sharad Pawar, ran a slick campaign and was anxious to ensure that his lengthy political career would not be marred. However, his efforts were in vain.

Since the Congress was seen as having blown its chances in the Haryana assembly votes earlier this year, there was a lot on the line for the party in the Maharashtra assembly elections. Observers noted that Rahul Gandhi, the party’s leader, did not run a vigorous campaign in the state, which caused the party to fail once again.

According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Maharashtra judgment is a “development” triumph, and he praised the people for their support.

“Progress triumphs! Effective leadership prevails! Together, we’ll reach new heights! Sincere thanks to my sisters and brothers in Maharashtra, particularly the state’s women and youth, for giving the NDA a historic mandate. This kindness and love is unmatched. In a post on X, he gave the people his word that the Alliance will continue to strive for Maharashtra’s development.

“NDA’s pro-people initiatives are well appreciated! I express my gratitude to voters in different states for supporting NDA candidates in the numerous by-elections that were conducted. We shall do everything in our power to realize their goals and desires. For their work on the ground, I am proud of everyone of the NDA Karyakarta. They put in a lot of effort, interacted with individuals, and provided more details about our good governance goal,” he said.

PM Modi thanked Hemant Soren, the chief minister of Jharkhand, on the governing alliance’s election results.”I express my gratitude to the Jharkhandi people for their support of us. We shall never stop advocating for the state and bringing attention to people’s problems. I also commend the coalition headed by the JMM for their success in the state,” he said.

The Congress expressed pleasure with the Jharkhand assembly elections, stating that the party has performed well in the state and that it would examine the results of Maharashtra, which are “very strange” and “completely opposite” to the expectations.

Congress leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh questioned the result in Maharashtra, where the BJP and its partners Shiv Sena and NCP are expected to win by a landslide, at a news conference held in the national capital.

“There is a conspiracy” to overthrow the Congress, according to Jairam Ramesh.

Pawan Khera questioned the BJP’s strike rate in the Maharashtra assembly elections and said that the party had a defeat in the state’s Lok Sabha elections around five months before.

According to him, the party will keep voicing concerns about the voting process because it is worried about its electoral transparency.
“The BJP lost the Maharashtra Lok Sabha election, which was contested in Modi ji’s name. Within four to five months, the same state awards 132 of 148 seats to the same BJP. What is the nature of this strike rate? Can this strike rate be achieved? We care about democracy.

We care about electoral openness. Can anti-incumbency be reversed by the BJP? We kept complaining. Jairam Ramesh had lodged a complaint against the removal of a female BJP leader’s name from the Election Commission’s website. Every Maha Vikas Aghadi leader has voiced their displeasure. There was no response,” Khera said.

“We will not stop challenging the electoral process, regardless of the outcome. Can we totally trust the robots in a nation where test papers are leaked? You cannot silence us by displaying Jharkhand’s results. We haven’t heard back from the Election Commission with a specific response yet, except from the poetry,” he said.

The Maharashtra defeat, according to Jairam Ramesh, does not imply that the party would abandon its platform, which includes calling for a caste census.

“We will undoubtedly examine the outcome that was obtained. However, we can now declare that even the winners did not foresee this outcome. We assumed we would get the mandate. Maharashtra’s working class is opposed to the administration, and the state’s farmers are furious. And the same environment that was in Maharashtra four to five months ago is still there today. We assumed this, and everyone agreed,” he added.

However, this is entirely at odds with the outcomes that have been obtained. However, this does not imply that we would abandon our goals—somewhere, there is a plot to undermine us. I have no other way to describe the outcome of Maharashtra; it is just bizarre,” he said.

According to Khera, the BJP and RSS attempted to establish a laboratory in tribal parts of Jharkhand.

“Himanta Biswa Sarma ended up serving as their spokesperson. There, the poster guy did all he could.This kind of politics was totally rejected by the people of Jharkhand, who once again elected a functional administration with a sizable majority. There, Congress did well,” he remarked.

In response to the outcome, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the win was a “victory of unity” and that he had little part in it.

“As I already said, I am a contemporary Abhimanyu who is capable of breaking the ‘Chakravyuh’. Since our team won, I believe my contribution to the triumph was little. We have achieved a historic triumph thanks to the people of Maharashtra. This indicates that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has the support of the public. ‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ was the slogan he offered, and people from all groups and sectors voted for us together. “This is a victory of unity, led by Mahayuti, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, and Ramdas Athawale,” Fadnavis said.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that there is no disagreement on the CM’s face when asked who will be the future chief minister of Maharashtra.

“On the face of the CM, there will be no disagreement. From the beginning, it was agreed that the leaders of the three parties would meet and make a decision on this after the elections. There is no question that the judgment would be accepted by everybody,” Fadnavis said.

“All I can say is that we are humbled in front of Maharashtra and its citizens. Our responsibilities have grown, and Maharashtra has firmly backed Modiji. We will do all in our power to repay their confidence in us,” he said.

Mahayuti’s “record-breaking victory” was declared by Chief Minister Shinde.

“The whole state of Maharashtra has our gratitude. The government we had was the government of the average person. I appreciate PM Modi’s amazing assistance. Our focus was on women, children, and farmers. Our goal is to transform the average person into Superman. The complete form of CM, in my opinion, is Common Man rather than Chief Minister,” he said.

Ladki Bahin Yojana changed the game, according to Ajit Pawar.
“It vanquished all of our enemies. Such a win is beyond anything I have ever seen. The win will not deter us, but it has undoubtedly increased our duty. Now we must act responsibly. In particular, financial discipline is necessary to keep all of our commitments. We’re determined to do that. People who are accusing EVMs should keep in mind that we lost the Lok Sabha and Jharkhand due to EVMs alone. By extremely narrow margins, we lost a few seats. For Maharashtra’s general growth, our coalition will collaborate till the end of the next five years,” he said.

The hard effort of the party, Devendra Fadnavis, and all of the party employees has paid off, according to Fadnavis’s wife, Amruta Fadnavis.”I am rather pleased with the final result. It’s amazing…The efforts of the party, Devendra Fadnavis, and all party employees have paid off.The state has benefited most from what has transpired,” Amruta said.

Kalpana Soren, the wife of Hemant Soren, expressed gratitude to the Jharkhandi people for their support.”I want to thank the people of Gandhey, Giridih and the people of the state for showering love on me and blessing me like their daughter,” said Kalpana Soren.
The BJP’s ‘batenge toh katenge’ slogan, according to Uddhav Thakeray, did not work.

“It was unsuccessful. Certain phenomena, like inflation and unemployment, are secular. It affects everyone. Thus, it didn’t work.Keray claims that it was unsuccessful. Certain phenomena, like inflation and unemployment, are secular. It affects everyone. Thus, it was unsuccessful,” he said.
In the morning, Sanjay Raut, the head of the Shiv Sena UBT, voiced concerns since preliminary data also indicated that Mahayuti was in a clear lead.

“The people of Maharashtra cannot have made this choice. “We are aware of the desires of the Maharashtra people,” he said.

Jharkhand had two stages of voting, whereas Maharashtra only had one phase.