Maharashtra emerges as the next fortress for the BJP

Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and almost every other states barring a few are currently led by the saffron party. However, there were few states where the BJP government, despite winning the elections, couldn’t rule as the other parties decided to form an unholy alliance. Yes, Uddhav’s Shiv Sena is also the one who betrayed BJP for its political benefits. However, Devendra Fadnavis is not a man who gives up easily, and thus, he demolished Uddhav’s empire brick by brick. Given the developments, it is safe to say that Maharashtra will emerge as the next fortress for the BJP.

Political drama in Maharashtra

The political crisis in Maharashtra took an interesting turn when Eknath Shinde, the senior Shiv Sena leader along with several other MLAs of the party moved to Surat. Eknath Shinde was reportedly unhappy with the way Shiv Sena was being run and the treatment being meted out to the old Shiv Sainiks.

Thus, the high-voltage drama occurred in the aftermath of an ideological tussle between Eknath Shinde’s camp and Uddhav Thackeray’s camp. While Uddhav dumped core Hindutva ideology, Shinde wanted Shiv Sena to stick to its root.

However, the political drama came to an end with Eknath Shinde being elevated to the post of Chief Minister, Fadnavis’s re-entry into the cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister and Uddhav being thrown out of the political corridor.

How is it beneficial for BJP?

While Uddhav Thackeray and MVA coalition are biting the dust, the BJP has emerged as the biggest beneficiary. How? Well, that’s an interesting story. Hold your horses. I’ll explain. TFI had predicted a few days back that Devendra Fadnavis will soon make a grand comeback at the helm of affairs in Maharashtra. However, the man whom India wanted to see as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra himself announced that “Shiv Sainik Eknath Shinde will take oath as the new CM.”

With this generous and humble decision, Fadnavis yet again proved that he is the real Chanakya. He was declared Maharashtra’s new deputy chief minister. There’s a reason to support the claim. BJP has backed Shinde to claim a stake in the legacy of Balasaheb. Moreover, the step has been taken to politically decimate the Thackeray clan, which is, of course, a masterstroke. While many believe that it is BJP-style politics to kick out MVA alliance from power, we strongly believe that the saffron party has begun its preparation for 2024.

A move to attract more voters

Eknath Shinde is a political stalwart in the state of Maharashtra. With him allying with the BJP, it becomes evident BJP will encash Maratha voters in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. Moreover, the BJP has also planned to elect the speaker of the Assembly soon who is likely to recognise the Eknath Shinde faction as the original Shiv Sena. This will lead the Shiv Sena loyalists enough to jump ships to vote for the new Shiv Sena.

While some would argue that BJP’s main strength is in the urban areas and it is hard to disagree with that. But to think that BJP is only limited to urban areas is foolhardy. The NCP and the Congress used to be a formidable force in rural areas until Devendra Fadnavis took reigns of the state.

Moreover, with Uddhav Thackeray at the helm of affairs, the state of Maharashtra witnessed chaos and anarchy. The MVA alliance not only failed to increase the economic prospects of Maharashtra but also went numb after Palghar lynching of Sadhus and the death of Sushant Singh Rajput among others. This has angered the majority of Maharashtrians which makes it highly unlikely that NCP and Congress will even receive a decent number of votes.

BJP’s victory in local elections

When a party ends up losing its stronghold and even the local elections in the state, it’s a sign of how the electorate is dissatisfied with the functioning of the party. Earlier as reported by TFI in 2021, the liberal fraternity’s so-called Chanakya Sharad Pawar and his party NCP faced a stinging defeat in its stronghold of Pandharpur-Mangalwedha assembly constituency as the BJP, despite a joint fight by the NCP-SS-INC, managed to win the seat which is a sign of Maha Vikas Aghadi’s massive unpopularity.

Moreover, earlier in January 2022, the BJP ended up grabbing the maximum vote share in local body elections of Maharashtra in semi-urban and rural areas. While the BJP had won 384 seats in nagar panchayats, the NCP could manage to win only 344 seats.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Legislative Council election occurred and BJP won these elections too with Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party bagging two each and BJP bagging five seats.

The winning is remarkable as the party had fielded five candidates while MVA fielded six candidates for 10 MLC seats. Despite being short in numbers, the BJP scored well leaving others behind.

Given the Chanakyaneeti of the Devendra Fadnavis and the party’s performance in the municipal and local body elections, it seems that the Maharashtra elections will thus be a treat to watch and for the BJP, the next elections could be a cakewalk.