Lok Sabha elections 2024: Will Team Uddhav join NDA? Party says no

The party has denied rumors that the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of the Shiv Sena could join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and said it will remain with the INDIA bloc. With nine seats secured, the Shiv Sena (UBT) emerged as Maharashtra’s second largest party next to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

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

In a post on polls of 2024 would be announced. are from.

Since that failed, she said these people are now spreading rumors that her party would leave the INDIA alliance and return to the NDA. In a post on This is the only difference!”

Referring to a popular meme doing the rounds on social media, Priyanka Chaturvedi posted on X, “Life of a godi ‘patrakaar’. Beginning: BJP will win a big mandate with a huge majority in 2019. Middle: Oh look! We are very happy because exit polls prove that our godi ‘patrakarita’ with ‘Modi chashma’ is right. End: No majority? So what, we will spread new rumors that ShivSena UBT will be back in NDA. Hail Modi. Moo Moo. Sure. You can roy-roye.”

2019 General Election

During the 2019 general elections, the BJP and the united 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 long-standing allies of the BJP, the Shiv Sena later contested the Maharashtra Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, but subsequently parted ways with the NDA due to differences over the chief minister’s position.

After this, Uddhav Thackeray took on 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 alleged that Thackeray had deviated from the alliance’s 2019 mandate. As his government’s majority waned, Thackeray resigned and Shinde was sworn in as chief minister of Maharashtra on June 30, 2022, with the BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.

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

Lok Sabha elections 2024

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

Backed by the BJP, the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions were considered the ‘real’ parties, which were challenged by the Thackeray and Sharad Pawar groups, who formed an alliance with the Congress.

As a result, the allotment of party symbols to the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions dealt a fresh blow to the Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, making the Lok Sabha elections a test of prestige as well as survival for them.

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

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

First print: June 7, 2024 | 10:01 am IST