The Last Fortress of Congress Dominance: Maharashtra Since the 1990s (SAGE Series on Politics in Indian States)

Focused mainly on Maharashtra’s politics since the 1990s, The Last Fortress of Congress Dominance also provides its readers a clear view of the historical context and the socio-political forces that have dominated the state since the 1950s. The politics of Maharashtra has been woven around two key factors: the Congress party and the Marathas. Attempts by the Shiv Sena and the BJP to emerge as alternatives to the Congress have had only limited success so far. As the state politics witnesses the transition into a new party system, the book presents a detailed study on the party system of Maharashtra and situates the analysis in the broader context of crisis of the Marathas and the many distortions of the state’s political economy. Aided by rich survey data from the National Election Studies, for all elections since 1996, the book presents a long-term view of the politics of Maharashtra as the state completes 60 years of its existence. Cover Sage Histroy Half title Marketing Full title Copyright CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SERIES NOTE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NOTES ON SOURCES INTRODUCTION 1 Framework of Congress Dominance 2 Towards Competitive Politics 3 Politics in the Times of Congress Decline 4 Maharashtra’s First Critical Election 5 Return of the Congress 6 Towards BJP’s Shaky Dominance 7 The Crisis of Maratha Politics 8 Political Economy of Maharashtra CONCLUSION REFERENCES ABOUT THE SERIES EDITORSAND AUTHORS INDEX A thorough discussion of Maharashtra politics with analysis of party system and electoral outcomes.