15 October 2014 2019 → 46 seats 45 seats 122 63 Start date October 15, 2014 | Did not contest Karad South 45 seats 82 seats 63 42 | |
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A legislative assembly election was held on 15 October 2014, in a single phase, to select the 288 members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in India. The result was announced on 19 October, with the BJP getting a plurality.
Contents
Background
Following the Maharashtra State Assembly election, 2009, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)—Indian National Congress (INC) alliance won a majority and formed the government.
Alliances
Following the NCP-INC alliance's performance in the Indian general election, 2014, the NCP demanded 144 seats to contest and a rotation of the Chief Minister's post between parties. Both parties held negotiations but failed to reach a conclusion. The INC declared its list of candidates for 118 seats on 25 September without consulting the NCP. Thus, the NCP unilaterally severed its 15-year-old alliance with the INC. The INC later reached out to the Samajwadi Party (SP) to form an alliance.
The Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) were alliance partners for 25-years - including several smaller parties, such as Republican Party of India (Athawale), Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna, Rashtriya Samaj Paksha, were also a part. After the general election, the BJP demanded additional seats to contest; initially they requested 144 seats but later reduced their demand to 130 seats. The Shiv Sena offered 119 seats to the BJP and 18 seats to four other allies, keeping 151 to contest itself. After several rounds of negotiations, the parties did not reach a conclusion. Thus the Shiv Sena - BJP alliance ended on the 25 September as well.
Parties
Indian National Congress
The incumbent Indian National Congress started its campaign on 1 September at Hutatma Chowk, Mumbai. Prithviraj Chavan, the incumbent Chief Minister led the campaign with Narayan Rane heading the Campaign Committee. The party's advertising campaign began on 20 September.
Nationalist Congress Party
The Nationalist Congress Party began its campaign in Kolhapur on 16 September with national party President Sharad Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Maharashtra party President Sunil Tatkare and MP from Kolhapur Dhananjay Mahadik attending the rally.
Bharatiya Janata Party
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in South Mumbai's Mahalaxmi Racecourse after his return from the U.S. for the sixty-ninth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena started its campaign at Mahalaxmi Racecourse in Mumbai on 27 September, where party leader Uddhav Thackeray addressed its supporters.
Election
A total of 4,119 candidates contested the election. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs was used in 13 constituencies: Wardha, Amravati (2 pockets), Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Nashik (3 pockets), Aurangabad (3 pockets) and Ahmednagar (2 pockets).
List of winning candidates
The following is the list of candidates won:
Reactions
INC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said: "Let me equally and candidly admit that in Maharashtra, we have had not only real but a perception of corruption also and that has been unfortunately and mostly attributed to our coalition partner. That has got us bad press and negative points. Some of it had been Congress but the overall impact has been negative...it is something very serious and sad and suitably depressing if they (the trends) turn out to be true. We have to take corrective action which we would."
The NCP's losing candidate Nawab Malik added blame for its former alliance partner, the INC: "It all happened because of Chavan. He had no understanding of the issues in Maharashtra, he did not take the right decisions, and he didn't act when he had to. He is responsible for the state of both the Congress and the NCP."
It was speculated that possible government formations would include BJP-Shiv Sena, BJP-NCP or NCP-Shiv Sena with outside support from the INC. The NCP offer was read as putting the Shiv Sena under pressure by NDTV saying it gave the BJP "mega-clout" in negotiations with the Shiv Sena.Amit Shah did not turn down the offer saying that the party's parliamentary board, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi would discuss options. Other unnamed BJP members said the Shiv Sena was "a natural fit" with the party. Other unnamed BJP members said they expected the Shiv Sena to seek the post of deputy chief minister as well as more ministers in the national government. Unnamed Shiv Sena spokespeople told NDTV that, as potential kingmaker, Uddhav Thackeray would decide the next steps "in Maharashtra's best interest." Finally, BJP and Shiv Sena agreed to come together and form the government.