Mumbai: Smaller parties like Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA), Asaduddin Owaisi‘s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Bahujan Samaj Party, are facing an existential crisis after the Maharashtra assembly poll drubbing.
Once seen as formidable vote-cutters and an alternative to the two mainstream alliances — Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — in the state, the vote share of all smaller parties dropped considerably from 2019 to 2024.
In the 2019 assembly polls, VBA contested 236 seats and received nearly 4.7% of the votes, BSP contested 263 seats and secured a little above 1% vote share, and MNS contested 101 seats and obtained a nearly 2.4% vote share. However, in the 2024 assembly polls, all three parties fared badly; additionally, VBA lost all three seats it contested in Vasai, Nalasopara, and Boisar.
According to the election body data, VBA received nearly 2.7% of the votes in the 2024 polls, contesting 200 seats. BSP contested 237 seats and received only 0.5% of the votes, while MNS contested 125 seats and secured just 1.6% of the votes. AIMIM’s vote share decreased to just 0.8%, and the party won only one seat in Malegaon Central.
Some of these parties could now lose their symbol. As per the Election Commission of India (ECI) rules, state parties must meet at least one of the three criteria to retain recognition: win one seat with an 8% vote share, two seats with 6% votes, or three seats with 3% votes. Officials said the norms are self-explanatory, and once a party is de-recognised, it will be declared registered-unrecognised.
MNS could lose its regional party recognition and railway engine symbol after its poor performance in the assembly election, experts said, citing the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.
MNS faced a double blow in the 2024 assembly elections, losing its lone MLA — Pramod (Raju) Patil from Kalyan Rural — and witnessing the party chief’s son Amit suffer a defeat from the Mahim seat. Despite its dismal performance, MNS played spoiler in several key constituencies, splitting the Marathi vote and impacting Shiv Sena (UBT)’s prospects against BJP. Despite polling less than 2% of the total state votes, MNS showed some strength in Mumbai, where it garnered around 14% of the vote share.