Explained: This article explains the political background, key decisions, and possible outcomes related to Explained : Political predicament of the two NCPs and Its Impact and why it matters right now.
The Maharashtra municipal poll results offer at least two lessons. One, the BJP is clearly the preferred party of urban Maharashtra, and its agenda, a combination of developmental aspirations and Hindutva, has prevailed over regional and ethnic sentiments articulated by smaller parties. Two, the non-BJP groups will need to consolidate their vote bases if they seek to challenge the organisational might and financial resources of the saffron outfit. The BJP is also good at leveraging its position as the ruling party in the Centre and in the state. Old forms of mobilisation, patronage, or legacy are no longer sufficient to stall the BJP juggernaut. The Pawars were quick to recognise this, and the first post-result meeting of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions decided that the pre-poll alliance in place in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad — two urban bodies where the NCP has traditionally been strong but won by the BJP in recent elections — will continue.
Elections to the 12 zilla parishad and 125 panchayat samiti in Maharashtra, due in early February, will be the first test for the alliance. The NCPs won only 203 seats in the urban civic bodies, but the united NCP was more of a political force in rural areas, where the sugar cooperatives provided the party both personal and material resources. The NCP needs to save this base, and the Pawars coming together may help, but only for now. Sharad Pawar has been exceptionally good at managing the satrap-centric politics centred around cooperatives, but that order is changing. Politics in the state has become transactional and is increasingly centralised, and family loyalty may no longer translate into political backing. Going ahead, the NCPs will need to look beyond Brand Pawar and articulate a new politics to retain their identity and influence.