ABSTRACT
Maharashtra was long known for its 'Congress system' that remained intact even when the party's dominance declined in other states during the post-emergency period. The first of the four narratives is about the erosion of the support base of the Congress in the state. The second one is about the disintegration of the Maratha politics or of the politics of the 'dominant caste'. The third story also began a long time ago, and Vora reported it as the arrival of the 'urban' in Maharashtra politics. Finally, the elections in 2014 signalled inadequacy of caste as an explanatory factor and thus indicated a shift from caste to class. The chapter discusses how, along with the Modi charisma, these multiple and gradually unfolding political and social narratives contributed to the shaping of the electoral outcomes in Maharashtra in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections.
