The consensus for 2019 Maharashtra state elections seems to be a decisive victory for the NDA and a depleted opposition seems to be dealing with existential questions.
It is not that there is no action on the ground. A state that is constantly battling either a drought or a deluge in different regions, a state that is infamous for a high number of farmer suicides, the brazen income inequality that is visible from nearly every window in the state capital, and the creaky infrastructure that kills more people every year in the financial capital, can never ignore an opportunity to hold the elected representatives accountable.
The broader economic slowdown in India has had a severe impact in Maharashtra particularly in its farmlands as well as industrial belts like Pune, which is home to many car makers and automobile parts makers who have laid off thousands of employees citing lack of demand.
The recent citizens’ outburst in Mumbai against the clearance of trees in Aarey Colony in suburban Mumbai met with a backlash from an equally motivated set of people who wanted a metro shed sooner than later.
This is also the first assembly election after the historic protest march by farmers in 2018 when nearly 50,000 people walked over 150 kilometres, from Nashik to Mumbai, demanding rights over the land they till.
However, the seemingly demoralised opposition has not seemed to capitalise on the opportunities to battle the institutionalised election machinery of the BJP.