Post-Palghar, the Shiv Sena's path will not be strewn with roses. The BJP will also not have its run-up to the general and assembly elections very smooth, considering the electoral behaviour in the by-polls held in different parts of the country, including Maharashtra. The opposition is buoyed, and yet fraught with risks, because a bigger canvas would be under consideration while forming a formidable anti-BJP/Modi alliance. Consensus on leadership, whether it is national-level alliances or the state-level pacts, would not be easy to come by. Palghar was a definite example of a flawed policy of the Congress which ignored a heavyweight partner of the previous poll, a district-based party, and ultimately lost the deposit of its candidate.

It was the Congress which lost a lot in the two by-polls in Maharashtra whereas the other three majors — the BJP, Sena and Nationalist Congress Party — learned good lessons ahead of next year's big test. BJP got to know what the Sena was upto and what damage it could cause in future if not taken along; the Sena lost but upped its confidence by amassing votes in its maiden effort; NCP outsmarted the Congress as usual. It ensured that the seat, which was vacated by a Congressman, was given to it for contesting, and then worked meticulously on anti-incumbency to win Bhandara-Gondia.