Why BJP bombed in Maharashtra

More so in Maharashtra it is time for introspection for the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP Their elaborate political strategies in the state were so selfdestructive that of the 28 seats they contested this year BJP won just nine In the 2014 and 2019 polls the party won 23 seats this drop to just nine seats within a span of five years is one of the worst political strike ratesIronically the BJP had sitting MPs as central rank ministers in the constituencies it lost who could have easily solved issues if they had kept their ear to the ground Three union ministersmdashRaosaheb Danve Bharati Pawar and Kapil Patilmdashfailed to gauge public moodNivrutti Nayahrakar at Pimpalgaonrsquos Baswant onion market File picAshish RajeBesides ignoring or only paying lipservice to the Maratha reservation issue and the onion crop crisis the partyrsquos myopic strategies failed Voters were also disillusioned by the bribingandpoaching of MPsMLAs under Operation Lotus and divisive MarathiGujarati politics And all of this was garnished by partnering with Raj Thackeray which alienated north Indian voters midday deep dives into the five key reasons that brought on BJPrsquos downfall in the stateMaratha reservationThis factor led to BJPrsquos decimation specifically in the Marathwada region which comprises eight Lok Sabha constituencies of Nanded Latur Aurangabad Jalna Beed Parbhani Hingoli and Osmanabad Of these four seatsmdashNanded Jalna Beed and Laturmdashwere with BJP and Aurangabad with Shiv Sena Eknath ShindeBJP candidate from Ghatkopar Mihir Kotecha was positioned as a key player with the growing GujratiMarathi divide File picShadab KhanNot a single BJP candidate won here It lost all four seats including high profile seats such as Beed where Pankaja Munde contested and Jalna where union minister and fivetime MP Raosaheb Danve held the seat In her speech Munde taunted Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil saying reservations cannot be achieved by fasts and protests which triggered widespread reactions in the Maratha communityThe anger was specifically targeted at the BJP and not its supporter Shinde Sena The latterrsquos candidate Sandipan Bhumare won AurangabadldquoIt was Devendra Fadnavis as CM who had got the Maratha reservationrdquo Bhumare had said ldquobut the Uddhav government could not implement it No chief minister has done this in 75 years despite being Maratha Only Fadanavis got this done but he is still being opposed which means Jarange Patil is acting on the oppositionrsquos scriptrdquoThe Maratha reservation burned through any goodwill that the BJP had earned in Marathwada which was evident in the march by Jarange Patil on Republic Day this year File picSayyed Sameer AbediOn Danversquos defeat his close aide Maharashtra minister and MLA from Sillod Abdul Sattar said ldquoI tried to help Danve wholeheartedly but my workers were disgruntled with him Also he could not keep public contactrdquoOperation LotusThis was basically the move of bribing and poaching MPs and MLAs from other parties It cultivated an atmosphere of mistrust and led to the collapse of the entire polity especially in NCP head Sharad Pawarrsquos bastion of western Maharashtra In addition to splitting parties threats of investigation by ED Enforcement Directorate CBI and Income Tax muddied the partyrsquos reputationWestern Maharashtra comprises 10 seatsmdashBaramati Shirur Sangli Kolhapur Madha Solapur Satara Hatkanangle Pune and Mavalmdashof which the Maha Vikas Aghadi held six seats ldquoThe split within the Pawar family for the Baramati Lok Sabha constituencyrdquo explains a political analyst ldquoand the sympathy wave for Uddhav after he lost his party and symbol were all consequences of Operation LotusrdquoDespite the obvious show of support from the NDA to Raj Thackeray his inclusion in the coalition seemed to have alienated the north Indian vote File picRane Ashish right Eknath Shinde was sworn in as Chief Minister 2022 The BJP will have a tough road ahead as the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA will have to fight for every inch of ground during sate elections in October File picAshish RajeOnion crisisThe ban on the export of onion in favour of bolstering the domestic market sparked huge losses to the entire supply chain Labourers farmers exporters and businessmen were all affected Further lifting of the ban in Gujarat hit the BJP hard As a result Hemant Godse MVA the twotime sitting MP from Nashik lost his seat to first time Lok Sabha contestant and former MLA Rajabhau Waje SenaUBT ldquoA single ban and the entire supply chain went for a tossrdquo trader Pravin Kadam said ldquoIronically when farmers in Maharashtra were suffering the government lifted the ban on export in Gujarat which led to more angerrdquoThe MarathiGujarati divideThis particular issue took Mumbaikars by storm with some cases and controversies being reported till the eve of the elections and eventually reflecting in constituencies such as north east MumbaiBJP candidate Kapil Patil celebrates after Lok Sabha election results at Bhiwandi in 2019 He lost his seat during these elections PicGetty ImagesSources said it possibly affected the electoratersquos mandate leading to more Marathi candidates Factors such as a LinkedIn ad for a graphic designer that mentioned Marathis are not welcome reports of housing societies not allowing Marathis and constant commentary by Sena UBT that industries from the state were being diverted to Gujarat ran an undercurrent of polarisation Sena UBT also alleged that workers carrying Sanjay Dina Patilrsquos northeast Mumbai Lok Sabha candidate Marathi pamphlets were not allowed in a Gujarati housing society in Ghatkopar ldquoYesrdquo Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said ldquoBJP tried to create a divide but voters showed their opinion in the ballot box We shall consolidate and show them which one is the real Shiv SenardquoRaj Thackeray factorRaj Thackery could not help the BJP even in the MNS stronghold of Nashik Incumbent twotime MP Hemant Godse lost to Sena UBT candidate Rajabhau Waje In Mumbai Mahayuti won only two seats with Ravindra Waikar scraping through with a slender margin of 48 votes in northwest MumbaiRaosaheb Danve is one of the four lost seats by the BJP and held the minister of state for railways File picAshish RajeRajrsquos 360degree turn at the Gudi Padwa speech at Shivaji Park left the party cadre upset and the voter base confused He said the last hope for Marathi lsquoasmitarsquo pride and Maharashtra had fallen which alienated BJPrsquos north Indian voters North Indian Hindus form the second largest voter base after Marathispeakers numbering about 22 lakh ldquoThackeray has publicly spoken against north Indiansrdquo says a political observer ldquoand his party has been involved in drives to throw them out of Mumbai The north Indian voter would obviously have been wary about Maharashtra Navnirman Sena aligning with the BJPrdquoWill this affect Assembly pollsWith the state elections just three months away the BJP will be in heavy damage control mode and the Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA will try to strengthen its hold and further consolidate votersSanjay Patil political analyst Sandeep Pradhan Senior Assistant Editor Lokmat Sanjay Raut has been vocal about NDArsquos attempt to create rifts between Marathi and Gujarati populous a point he drove home in his MVA rally in Borivali this May File picAnurag AhireThe BJP will either open communication to remain connected with the people woo Marathas or dislodge the MVA again by taking apart its partners The next three months will be no less than the plot of a potboiler