Both MVA And Mahayuti Choose To Face Polls Without CM’s Face

After much tossing around, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has decided to go to polls without any face to present the picture of an united front. Post-Haryana debacle, the Congress clipped wings of its multiple strong leaders and has sent a message to its cadres to work together and not heed to the various factions at play. State Congress president Nana Patole did try to showcase himself for the top slot, but was cut to size by Delhi. Though Uddhav Thackeray has been consistently trying to project himself to be the CM face, his coalition partners are convinced that he no longer commands the strength of numbers. His bete noire, chief minister Eknath Shinde may be leading the Mahayuti alliance in the polls but there is no guarantee he will become the CM. He was apparently reminded by Amit Shah that he remains the CM only because of the BJP’s sacrifice of not claiming the seat. The BJP cadres are already upset at the BJP leadership for letting Prime Minister Narendra Modi visit Shinde’s constituency Thane, over the BJP’s own strongholds. The BJP has been struggling with constraints to retain the Maratha vote bank and fear that projecting a Brahmin leader like Devendra Fadnavis could backfire against them. Fadnavis no longer commands clout in his own party like he once did. Ajit Pawar, who was once tipped to be CM when he split from his uncle Sharad Pawar to join the ruling Mahayuti, cuts a sorry figure today and is no longer in the reckoning for the top seat.