An astounding 7,666 nominations had been filed for the state assembly elections as of Saturday, the last day to do so. The figure is huge considering there are 288 assembly constituencies, giving an average of nearly 27 candidates in each assembly segment. This response can be attributed to the major political upheaval in the state, which saw parties from two major coalitions severing ties with each other.

From 1990, constituencies were distributed among political parties. First, it was between the Shiv Sena and the BJP, which forged an alliance to provide an alternative to the Congress. Later, in 1999, the Congress and the NCP came together, further demarcating the allocation of assembly constituencies. Slowly, the situation led to political stagnation — in which Congress workers did not see any future in constituencies NCP had and vice-versa. A similar situation arose among Shiv Sena and BJP workers. With the political alliances permeating all the way to the civic body elections, almost two to three generations of activists perished. This led to further disenchantment among activists, as senior and well-established leaders turned their constituencies into fiefdoms and started promoting their family members. The situation became so serious that the Congress and NCP are still not ready to admit that a majority of their political workers and their family members did not vote for their respective party candidates in the Lok Sabha polls.