Maha BJP hopes to replicate Haryana win by reaching out to non-Marathas, flagging development

Mumbai, Oct 9 (IANS) Buoyed by its victory in Haryana Assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has enthusiastically speeded up its preparations for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly polls.

The elections are likely to take place in the second or third week of November.

The BJP, which is the senior partner in the Mahayuti comprising allies Shiv Sena and NCP, proposes to replicate the Haryana pattern by reaching out to non-Maratha communities and projecting the development plank as a major poll issue.

The BJP’s Maharashtra incharge and Union Minister Bhupender Yadav is personally conducting interactions with various sections of society in a bid to counter the Opposition’s narrative with regard to change in the Constitution and cancellation of quotas.

Veteran BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has echoed the sentiments of the party workers and also of the Mahayuti functionaries saying that the win in Haryana will be repeated in Maharashtra.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party was hit by the false propaganda of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha elections. The party had decided to respond to such false propaganda. After the Lok Sabha elections, the first exam was held in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. In this test, the voters have clearly rejected the false propaganda of the Opposition and supported the development agenda of PM Narendra Modi,” claimed Fadnavis.

He further added that the voters from Maharashtra would vote for the Mahayuti for the sake of development.

The BJP, which won only nine seats in the Lok Sabha elections, is leaving no stone unturned as it is holding a series of meetings with representatives of OBCs, Dalits, tribal organisations in a serious bid to step up their outreach and counter the consolidation of the Maratha community by the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

This is in the wake of a section of the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s support to the pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil and use of his clout to checkmate the BJP.

However, BJP sources indicated that more the MVA echoes Jarange-Patil’s agenda, more the OBC consolidation will take place in support of the BJP and allies in the run up to the Assembly elections.

The BJP, which is actively pursuing 155 to 160 seats in the Mahayuti, will hold meetings in the next two days to decide its candidates for the Assembly election while giving due consideration to their winnability, elective merit and caste combinations.

The BJP will hold meetings to discuss nominees from Mumbai, Konkan, North Maharashtra and West Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada.

The Shiv Sena is insisting on getting 90 to 100 seats while the NCP is not in the mood to settle for less than 60 seats.

BJP insiders hint that the first list of the Mahayuti will be announced within a week.

The NCP Working President on Tuesday announced that a consensus has been reached on nearly 235 seats among the Mahayuti partners and for the remaining seats they are expected to sit together and find a solution within a day or two.

The BJP has activated the party machinery in up to about one lakh booths across the state by deputing at least ten party workers on every booth.

This is with the objective of increasing the voters’ turnout from every booth.

A senior BJP minister said, “The BJP government in 50 days changed the mood in its favour in Haryana by reaching out to the voters with more than 50 development works. The Mahayuti partners will also approach the voters by flagging off a slew of welfare and development schemes launched in the last three months. The Mahayuti will be able to checkmate the Maha Vikas Aghadi on the development plank and mobilise support from not merely the Maratha community but also OBCs, tribals and Dalits.”

On top of it, the BJP hopes to cash in on the active involvement of the functionaries of the RSS and its affiliates who are holding region-wise meetings to increase voters’ turnout.

(Sanjay Jog can be reached at sanjay.j@ians.in)