The current fragmented polity of Maharashtra may be a nightmare for political pandits, but the state has not witnessed single-party rule for the last nearly thirty years.
Since 1995, only alliances have ruled in the state, though the last five years witnessed extraordinary realignments where former allies became sworn enemies and sworn enemies became friends.
The state had its last one-party government in 1990 when the Congress retained power by winning 141 seats in the 288-member assembly though it fell short of a simple majority. The BJP won 42 and Shiv Sena 52 seats.
The present coalition-era started in 1995 when the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance ended the Grand Old Party's hegemony and formed a government.
It was not the first coalition government in the state's history, though.
The first coalition came to power in 1978 when Congress (O) and Congress (Indira), the two post-Emergency factions of the Congress, formed a government.
Sharad Pawar, who was part of this government, toppled it, and became chief minister with the support of a Congress breakaway group, Janata Party and MLAs of some other opposition parties.
Indira Gandhi dismissed this government after she returned to power at the Centre.
Till 1978, Maharashtra had been a Congress bastion. In the first election in 1962 after the state's formation, the Congress came to power by winning 215 of 264 seats. It won 222 out of 270 seats in 1972.
Notably, the Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray made its debut in 1972 by winning one seat.
In 1978, the strength of the assembly rose to 288.
In 1980, the 'Indira Congress' returned to power by winning 186 seats.
The Congress's domination ended in 1995 when the Sena-BJP alliance came to power with 45 Congress rebels who had won as independents supporting the saffron regime.
The 1999 assembly polls came against the backdrop of a split in the Congress and formation of the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Congress still emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats while the NCP won 58 seats. The ruling Shiv Sena and BJP won 69 and 56 seats, respectively, and lost power.
The Congress and the NCP had fought the polls separately, but came together to form government. The alliance ruled for the next 15 years.
In 2014, all four parties contested separately. The BJP bagged 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, the Congress 42 and the NCP 41.
The Shiv Sena joined the BJP-led government helmed by Devendra Fadnavis a month after it was formed.
In 2019, the BJP and the Shiv Sena contested the elections together. With the BJP winning 105 and Shiv Sena 56 seats, the alliance was poised to retain power, but it broke up when the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena insisted on the chief minister's post.
The BJP led by Devendra Fadnavis sprang a surprise by forming a government with an NCP faction led by Ajit Pawar, but it collapsed in three days for the lack of numbers.
The Shiv Sena then did the unthinkable by joining hands with arch enemies Congress and NCP and formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi government.
The Congress had won 44 and NCP 54 seats in the 2019 polls.
The Thackeray-led three-party government continued till June 2022 when Sena leader Eknath Shinde rebelled and brought it down.
Shinde split the Sena and joined hands with the BJP to form a government.
A year later, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and joined the 'Mahayuti' government. Both Ajit Pawar and Shinde factions were recognised as the "real" political parties based on their legislative strength.
Since then, the state has an unprecedented situation where there are six major political players with three on each side.
