POLITICS

Will Vidarabha be carved out as a new State of India?

The landslide victory in Vidhan Sabha elections in Maharashtra with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led Mahayuti enjoying power paved the way for the formation of Vidarbha as a new State of India.

Raj Thackeray helped Uddhav save face in Maharashtra?

There was a surprise factor in the just concluded Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha polls. The role of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is hotly discussed among the political pundits as it indirectly aided his estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray’s party. MNS is said to have played a decisive role in eight critical constituencies, including high-profile ones like Worli, Mahim, and Bandra East, where Shiv Sena (UBT) won. Political analysts suggest that without the MNS fielding candidates, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) would have been limited to just 10 seats, with most of the remaining seats going to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.  In Mahim, MNS candidate Amit Thackeray, the son of Raj Thackeray secured 33,062 votes, enabling Uddhav Thackeray’s candidate Mahesh Sawanz to win by a narrow margin of 1,316 votes. The vote split in MNS and Eknath sena helped Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) to register victory on almost a dozen seats.