Amravati: Ever since the emergence of Grand Alliance in the state in 1995, posters, flexes, banners, pamphlets, etc. of candidates of both the BJP and Shiv Sena parties in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections used to have Bal Thackeray's picture. However, this is the first time after 25 years that Thackeray's picture will be used in the campaign of Congress and NCP (Sharad Pawar group) candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
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The BJP-Sena coalition government was formed in the state in 1995. The late Manohar Joshi was the first chief minister of the alliance and Gopinath Munde was made as the deputy chief minister in the state politics. However, the BJP-Sena alliance broke down in 2019 due to changing political equations, hegemony, and differences of opinion. Uddhav Thackeray formed the Government of Maha Vikas Aghadi with the cooperation of Congress and NCP and became the chief minister. However, the BJP 'cashed in' in driving differences between the parties by making claims such as Shiv Sena MLAs do not get funds after the pandemic, NCP leaders behaved in a humiliating manner and urged the Sena to get out of the MVA.
On the initiative of Eknath Shinde, 44 Shiv Sena MLAs and 13 MPs decided to break away from Uddhav Thackeray. The Sena-BJP alliance came back to power in 2022. Eknath Shinde became the Chief Minister and Devendra Fadnavis started serving as the Deputy Chief Minister. Later on, Ajit Pawar broke the NCP in 2023 and Ajit decided to join the BJP-Sena government with 43 MLAs and 6 MPs. Ajit Pawar is now serving as deputy chief minister.
After the dramatic developments in the state, the Election Commission decided to hand over the Shiv Sena party and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Later, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar claimed the NCP party and symbol. This decision of the Election Commission has been a test of the political future of Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. Now, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has got the torch and Sharad Pawar's NCP has got the man blowing trumpet symbol.
No matter who the candidate is, Bal Thackeray's picture continues to be displayed on campaign materials like flexes, banners, pamphlets, etc. Bal Thackeray's picture will be present in the campaign of Grand Alliance and Maha Vikas Aghadi. After 25 years, Congress and NCP, who were main subjects of criticism of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, will display his image and appeal to voters on his legacy for the election campaign.