Lok Sabha elections 2024: Is Team Uddhav aligning with NDA? Party says no

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena said it is going to remain with the INDIA alliance and will not switch back to the NDA

Dismissing rumours that the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena may align with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the party said that it will remain with the INDIA bloc. With nine seats secured, the Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as Maharashtra’s second-largest party, alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Eknath Shinde faction won only seven seats.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took a dig at pollsters who had predicted that the BJP would make a comeback with a huge majority once the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are out.

Since that failed to happen, she said that these people are now spreading rumours of her party leaving the INDIA alliance and returning to the NDA. In a post on X, Priyanka Chaturvedi said, “Exit pollsters and media love Modiji, INDIA alliance loves the people. This is the only difference!”
 

Referring to a popular meme making rounds on social media, Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on X, “The life of a godi ‘patrakaar’. Begin: BJP will win a big mandate with a massive majority in 2019. Middle: oh look! We are thrilled because exit polls prove our godi ‘patrakarita’ with ‘Modi chashma’ right. End: No majority? So what, we will spread new rumours that ShivSena UBT will be back in NDA . Hail Modi. Moye Moye. Ye na hoye. You can roye roye.”

2019 General Elections

During the 2019 General Elections, the BJP and the unified Shiv Sena formed an alliance, securing a total of 41 Lok Sabha seats, with the BJP winning 23 and Uddhav Thackeray’s party claiming 18. Despite being one of the BJP’s long standing allies, the Shiv Sena later contested the Maharashtra Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP but subsequently parted ways with the NDA due to disagreements over the chief ministerial position.

Following this, Uddhav Thackeray assumed the role of chief minister as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, which included the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena.

In 2022, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde split from the party and rejoined the NDA. He asserted that Thackeray had diverged from the alliance’s 2019 mandate. With his government’s majority dwindling, Thackeray resigned, and Shinde was sworn in as the chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30, 2022, with Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP serving as his deputy.

A year later, Sharad Pawar's NCP was split, leading to Shinde appointing Ajit Pawar as his second deputy chief minister.

2024 Lok Sabha elections

The 2024 Lok Sabha election in Maharashtra stood out as one of the most unconventional in its history, witnessing the emergence of two Shiv Sena and two NCP factions, operating under quite similar but different names.

Supported by the BJP, the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions were deemed the ‘real’ parties, which were challenged by the Thackeray and Sharad Pawar groups, who were in alliance with the Congress.

Consequently, the allocation of party symbols to the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions dealt another blow to the Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, turning the Lok Sabha elections into both a test of prestige and survival for them.

Leading up to the elections, the Mahayuti alliance, comprising Sena-BJP-NCP, projected confidence in securing a majority of seats. However, the BJP’s tally dwindled from 23 to just nine, with team Shinde securing seven seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP clinching only one.

In contrast, the coalition of Congress-Shiv Sena (led by Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and NCP (under Sharad Pawar) triumphed in 30 out of the state's 48 constituencies. The Congress emerged as the predominant party, securing 13 seats, while Team Uddhav garnered nine and Sharad Pawar’s party secured eight.