Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday expressed his views on the upcoming elections, stating, "People here have sympathy for Uddhav Thackeray. They look at Eknath Shinde as a backstabber who betrayed Balasaheb Thackeray. These elections will bring a very bad time for Eknath Shinde. The people will not forgive him." Bharadwaj's comments highlight the sentiments of the public towards Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, suggesting potential repercussions for Shinde in the upcoming elections.
The Election Commission of India said on Saturday that the Lok Sabha elections for the 48 seats in Maharashtra will be held in five phases.It said that the elections will be held in the state on April 19, May 7, May 13 and May 20, and the votes will be counted on June 4.The election body said that Mumbai and areas in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which include Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar will vote in the fifth phase of elections on May 20. Similarly, elections in Nashik, Dindori and Dhule in north Maharashtra will also be held on May 20, news agency PTI reported.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and undivided Shiv Sena had fought in an alliance, bagging 23 and 18 seats respectively. Both the parties split after the assembly elections held later that year and the Uddhav Thackeray-led party joined hands to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition also comprising Congress and undivided NCP.
In 2022, Shiv Sena was split after Eknath Shinde walked out along with 39 other MLAs thereby reducing the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government into a minority. His party boss resigned as the chief minister and Shinde formed the government along with the BJP.