Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday predicted a significant political change in the state following the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at a public meeting in Navi Mumbai after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri-Nhava Sheva Atal Setu, Shinde said the state would experience a political earthquake.
The chief minister said under the leadership of PM Modi, the country was progressing at a bullet speed. After the Lok Sabha elections, there will be a political earthquake in the state. We have to ensure that Modi returns to power for the third term with (the ruling alliance winning) over 400 seats, while in Maharashtra, the alliance wins more than 45 seats (out of the total 48), he said.
The Lok Sabha elections are expected to be held in April-May 2024. Shinde stated that the ruling alliance in Maharashtra, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), will face the elections on a development agenda.
The Chief Minister's statements follow the state assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar's recent ruling, where he declared Eknath Shinde's faction as the "authentic Shiv Sena political party. In a significant development, all petitions seeking the disqualification of MLAs from both factions, one led by Shinde and the other by Uddhav Thackeray, were dismissed by the Speaker two days ago.