File photo of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. |Photo credit: ANI
In June 2022, there was a sudden change of government in Maharashtra, with Eknath Shinde becoming the new chief minister in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shinde’s Mahayutth government has been in power for two years and four months.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray was formed in 2019 through an unusual alliance and lasted a little over two years, Affected by the epidemic and intra-party rebellion.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Full Coverage
Thus, during the five-year tenure of the current Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, two governments led by Shiv Sena leaders ruled the state. Of course, the two governments are often compared. The survey seeks responses on the performance of both governments.
When people were asked to compare the Thackeray-led government with the Shinde-led government in terms of overall development of the country, the former scored slightly higher (Table 1).
On the issue of maintaining social harmony in the country, the Thackeray-led government also has a similar advantage among the respondents. On the question of providing stable government, there is only a 1 percentage point difference between MVA and Mahayuti (Table 1), with one in five (21%) neither answering nor responding to this question.
On the issue of improving infrastructure and amenities, the respondents outperformed the current Sindh government in terms of conditions of government hospitals, power supply, drinking water and roads.
Respondents were more positive about the MVA government in terms of conditions in public schools and colleges and conditions for farmers (Table 2). The Shinde-led government scored significantly better than the Thackeray government in the areas of power, drinking water and roads, with a lead of more than eight percentage points (Table 2).
The MVA government scores 8 percentage points higher than its successor on the question of the status of farmers and 3 percentage points ahead on the status of public schools and colleges. Importantly, in most areas of development, more than a quarter of respondents believed the performance of the two governments was equivalent (Table 2).
Voters who do not experience dramatic changes in the performance of either government – whether positive or negative – risk tilting the political balance in the upcoming elections. Both coalitions have their own mandate to highlight their own successes and point out their opponents’ alleged failures during the campaign.
Given the large agricultural base, the 8 percentage point gap between the performance of the two governments on the status of farmers is likely to play a key role in the state.
At the same time, improvements in road facilities and electricity may help the current government’s support in urban constituencies and among middle- and upper-class voters.
On the other hand, the fact that nearly half (45 per cent) of the respondents still have positive memories of the Thackeray-led government may have political implications. However, it is also important to note that there does not appear to be strong anti-incumbency sentiment towards the current administration.
Published – October 21, 2024 03:35 AM (IST)
