Amidst the ongoing political crisis in the state of Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena going out of its way and joining hands with its ideological rivals, the BJP has expressed confidence that it would form the next government in the state. The party has claimed that it has the support of 119 MLAs in the 288-member state assembly. State BJP chief, Chandrakant Bacchu Patil has also said that the party is committed to giving a stable government in the state.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party in the state of Maharashtra during the recent assembly polls with 105 seats. The electoral mandate was in favour of the BJP-Shiv Sena pre-poll alliance as the coalition secured 161 seats. However, after the results, Shiv Sena made some bizarre demands primarily the CM post for Aaditya Thackeray, leading to a split in the coalition and now the Shiv Sena is negotiating for power with its ideological rivals- the Congress and the NCP. Maharashtra BJP chief, Chandrakant Bacchu Patil has however claimed that the tally of the BJP has gone up to 119 MLAs in the state as it has the support of some of the independent MLAs.
Patil said, “We have the highest number. With 119 MLAs, we will form a BJP government in the state. Devendra Fadnavis has expressed this confidence before party leaders. We’re committed to give a stable government to the state.”
He also made it clear that there can be no government in Maharashtra without the BJP. Speaking about the party’s excellent performance during the recent assembly polls, the state BJP chief said that the BJP secured 1.42 crore voters in the state and emerged in the “number one” position as opposed to 92 lakh votes secured by the NCP followed by Shiv Sena with 90 lakh votes. He also said that no party except BJP has been able to secure more than 100 seats in the state since 1990. The BJP has however achieved this feat two successive times in 2014 and 2019.
With the BJP claiming support of several independent MLAs and also expressing the confidence of forming government in Maharashtra, it seems that the party might be able to replicate its exploits in Karnataka. Even in Karnataka, the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats. The mandate in the 222-member assembly was clearly in favour of the BJP, however it fell just short of the majority mark. The Congress and the JD (S) had stitched an unholy alliance to stop the BJP from coming into power. Earlier this year, thirteen-month old Congress-JD (S) government suffered a huge setback with 16 legislators resigning and two Independents withdrawing support from the coalition government within a fortnight.
The HD Kumaraswamy government failed the trust vote in the Karnataka assembly as it could muster support of only 99 MLAs in comparison to the support of 105 MLAs the BJP, which later proved its majority in a depleted house of 208 members and formed government in the state. This was largely seen as a vindication of the BJP’s popularity and the political acumen of the BJP National President, Amit Shah.
Over the past few years, the BJP President has acquired the reputation of being dexterous in steering the party out of difficult and tricky political situations. Even in the case of Bihar, it was only due to the deft political strategy of the BJP President that the party was able to reverse the setback it faced in the 2015 Bihar Assembly polls, when the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress had formed the so-called Mahagathbandhan.
Merely two years within the 2015 Bihar assembly polls setback, there was a split between the JD (U) and the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD. The BJP and JD (U) came together to form government in the state, and the performance of the NDA during the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar earlier this year has made it clear that the BJP has a strong foothold in the state. The alliance, riding on PM Modi’s popularity, won all but one seat in the state.
BJP chief Amit Shah has already proved his political acumen during his ongoing tenure as the BJP President. Karnataka and Bihar are the most prominent political exploits of his tenure, and now he seems all set to replicate similar success in the state of Maharashtra amidst the ongoing political crisis in the state.
