The BJP’s win in Maharashtra after its dismal performance in the general elections is likely to mark a turning point in the state’s political history.
Published Nov 24, 2024 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 24, 2024 | 12:27 PM
Former chief minister Devendra Fadanvis is likely to take the helm of the state for the second time. (Screengrab)
Five months ago, Mahayuti offices across Maharashtra were silent. The BJP-led alliance had been restricted to 17 seats out of 48 in the Lok Sabha elections.
Aside from pulling down the count at the Centre, the verdict was seen as the public rejecting the split factions of allies Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP (Ajit Pawar).
Cut to Saturday, 23 November, the BJP-led Mahayuti has defied expectations, sweeping away the Maharashtra Assembly polls. The alliance has won a landslide 236 out of 288 seats. The saffron party itself has won 132 seats out of the 149 it had contested.
NCP (Ajit Pawar) won 41, while the Shiv Sena (Shinde) won 57.
The Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has suffered a crushing blow, managing to win just 49 seats. While the grand old party won 16 seats, the NCP (Sharad Pawar) managed a score of 10, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) scraped together 20 seats.
The split factions of the Sena and NCP have redeemed themselves, with Eknath’s Shinde’s Sena alone winning more seats than the entire MVA. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde called it the “people’s verdict” of who the real party was.
Former chief minister Devendra Fadanvis is likely to take the helm of the state for the second time. After a stint in Opposition, a failed take-over of the government, a hand in splitting up two regional parties, and a demotion to deputy chief ministership, this victory marks Fadanvis’ return to the top rungs of power in the state.
The Mahayuti’s famed Laadki bahin scheme, disbursing ₹1,500 to underprivileged women beneficiaries every month was estimated to cost the state exchequer around ₹46,000 crore.
Despite the Opposition’s initial outcry against the programme, the MVA in its manifesto upped the amount to ₹2,100, prompting the Mahayuti to increase their promised amount to ₹3,000 in a quasi-bidding war. The scheme proved to be a big hit among women voters.
The BJP slogans, ‘Ek hai toh safe hai,’ and ‘Batenge toh katenge’, were yet another mobilising point. The slogans appealed to various warring caste groups and pushed the idea of the Hindu community as one, rather than split into castes.
It also appealed to disgruntled Shiv Sena (UBT) voters, who were miffed at the subtle inclusion of Muslim viewpoints on MVA platform.
What bombed was the MVA’s push on farmer issues. Despite an ongoing agrarian crisis in Marathwada and Vidarbha, the Mahayuti managed to win a majority of the seats in both the crucial regions, proving that the Opposition had failed to mobilise anger against the government.
In-fighting and lack of seat planning was yet another fail, as several leaders of the Opposition seemed to be on the outs with each other over seat sharing issues. The future chief ministerial position was yet another point of contention between them, which translated into booth-level workers refusing to campaign for the alliance candidates in some places.
Defying popular sentiment, the Jarange-Patil factor fizzled out before the polls and failed to have an impact on the results. The Maratha reservation activist had raised enough clout within a year to be considered a serious factor for the election, and had actually been a major reason behind the BJP’s depleted numbers in the Lok Sabha polls.
However, his announcement of fielding candidates, and then backing off right before the nominations seemed unpopular. The Mahayuti in the meanwhile managed to appease both Maratha and OBC sentiments, striking enough of a balance to defer the issue and win seats.
The BJP’s win in Maharashtra after its dismal performance in the general elections is likely to mark a turning point in the state’s political history.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
