In a historic intervention, India expressed deep disappointment over the new climate finance target, calling it “abysmally poor” and emphasised that it cannot accept it

The assembly elections in Maharashtra have shed light yet again on the BJP’s resilience and successful strategising after a setback. The party has managed a successful course correction in the state where just a few months ago, it has slid massively in the Lok Sabha polls. From 28 seats in 2019, the party had managed to win only 13 seats this year — a situation that restricted its numbers in the Lok Sabha and for the first time since 2014, made it dependent on its allies for majority in the lower house. After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra has the second highest number of MPs — 48.

What worked for the BJP was a massive course correction that included a delicate balance of welfare measures for women, tribals, and other sections by the state government, more attention to candidates, and grassroots level campaign that they achieved after patching up the rift with ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The big catalyst here was the ‘Ladki Behen’ scheme under which the state government made cash transfers of Rs 1,500 per month to women and had promised to increase it to Rs 2,100 if voted to power. The

The other big factor was the consolidation of the Other Backward Castes. Sources said the BJP tried very hard to reach out to the various caste groups among the OBCs. The party explained to them that their rights would be protected and it was a fake narrative by the Congress that the constitution would be changed to take away their reservation.

Relief was extended to onion farmers of north Maharashtra and cotton and soybean farmers of Vidarbha, sources said.

A promise of loan waiver brought angry farmers — who didn’t vote for the party in the Lok Sabha election — back to the BJP fold.

In the middle of the campaign, the BJP also indicated that it was keeping the question of Chief Ministership open. This helped the party in Vidarbha, to keep the popularity of Devendra Fadnavis at its peak.

The BJP also managed to pacify many rebel leaders. The MVA couldn’t do the same and suffered.

Mahayuthi — the ruling alliance of Mr Shinde’s Sena, Ajit Pawar’s faction of the Nationalist Congress Party and the BJP — are ahead on 236 of Maharashtra’s 288 seats.

The Opposition MVA – the Shiv Sena faction of Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar’s faction of Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress — are ahead on just 48 seats.

Mahayuti – an alliance of the BJP and the Shiv Sena and NCP factions led by Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar – swept the Maharashtra polls, winning 235 of the total 288 seats. The BJP got the largest share – 132, followed by Sena (57) and NCP (41).
The Maha Vikas Aghadi – comprising Congress and the Shiv Sena and NCP factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar, together won 49 seats, less than half of the BJP’s solo tally.
Sena (UBT) was the highest scorer in the opposition camp with 20 seats while the Congress ended with 16. Sharad Pawar’s NCP won just 10 seats, the worst ever performance by the veteran politician.
Having lost their party’s name and symbol to mutinies by their trusted aides, this was a prestige battle for both Mr Thackeray and Mr Pawar and the crushing defeat now raises a question mark on their political future.
The defeat is followed by another blow for the opposition bloc – Maharashtra assembly may not have a Leader of Opposition this time. A party with 10 percent of 288 or 29 seats can claim the post, but none in the MVA have reached the mark.
The dilemma now for the Mahayuti will be to choose a leader for the top post. Both Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis – the two top contenders for the Chief Minister’s post – have asserted that they will consult all allies and take a decision together.
In Jharkhand, the INDIA bloc won 56 out of 81 seats while the NDA ended with 24. Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bagged the highest number of seats – 34 – while Congress won 16, Rashtriya Janata Dal 4, and CPI(ML)(L) 2.
For the Congress, the bright spot was Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s debut from Wayanad, which was vacated by Rahul Gandhi as he moved to his mother’s Rae Bareli seat. She won the Kerala seat by a whopping 4 lakh votes, a bigger margin than her brother. The Congress also won the other parliamentary bypoll in Maharashtra’s Nanded.
The assembly by-elections saw the NDA win 20 out of the total 48 seats. The saffron alliance performed well in Assam, Rajasthan, and Bihar, and dealt a setback to Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress won three seats in Karnataka while Trinamool swept all six in Bengal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed party workers at the BJP headquarters last evening and congratulated the Mahayuti alliance for the historic mandate. His speech included a message of unity that has been part of the Maharashtra campaign discourse – “ek hain toh safe hai (united we are safe)”.