Even as the MahaYuti comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party is geared up to ride on Modi wave and encash the inauguration of Ram temple in Ayodhya, three partners have decided to leave no stone unturned to achieve Mission 45 plus in Maharashtra in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
In a bid to charge up the cadre and increase coordination in the run up to the general elections, three parties together have decided to address joint rallies in six revenue divisions. A formal announcement in this regard is expected on Wednesday at the joint press conference by state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar, Shinde-led Shiv Sena minister Dadaji Bhuse and Ajit Pawar led NCP’s state chief Sunil Tatkare.
The organisation of joint rallies was discussed at length at the marathon meeting held last week among Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Although the three parties are confident to outpace the Maha Vikas Aghadi on largely the development plank and achievements of Modi led government at the Centre in its tenure and the MahaYuti government’s slew initiatives, they realise that they need to step up efforts to bring together their cadres and district units which help the transfer of votes smoothly.
At the individual party level, the BJP has already gone way ahead of its allies by gearing up party machinery up to the booth level by deploying party workers to increase their outreach to voters and mobilise support. DCM Devendra Fadnavis, who is the party’s leading poll strategist, will embark upon a statewide Yatra soon to galvanise the support as he did ahead of assembly polls held in 2019 by taking out Jagadeesh Yatra.
On its part, CM and Shiv Sena chief leader, Eknath Shinde will sound a poll bugle by taking out Shiva Sankalpa Abhiyan in all 48 constituencies. Shinde has already asked the cadre to celebrate the Ram temple inauguration in a big way and also take up pro-people and pro-development decisions taken by both Modi led government and the MahaYuti government to the voters to counter the charges levelled by the Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Further, Ajit Pawar-led NCP is in the midst of organising a state-wide Yatra by DCM and party chief Ajit Pawar. Incidentally, he has asked the ministers, senior leaders and chiefs of the party’s various wings also to increase their touring in a bid to increase the party’s presence.
Even though three partners, who have held preliminary talks, have yet to commence the seat-sharing talks, MahaYuti insiders claimed that BJP may get 26 seats while the remaining 22 will be shared between Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. They further pointed out that seat adjustment won’t be a tedious affair as three parties are unanimous to win 45 of the total 48 seats in Maharashtra, which is quite crucial after 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh to achieve BJP’s 400 plus target at the national level.
MVA Poll Strategy
On the other hand, despite a recent verbal duel between leaders of the Maha Vikas Aghadi allies Congress and Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray over the seat sharing, there seems to be a truce between the two with a common cause of taking on MahaYuti in the upcoming general elections. Top leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi from Congress, Sharad Pawar who is the founder of NCP and Shiv Sena UBT president Uddhav Thackeray at the sidelines of the recently held I.N.D.I.A block meeting in Delhi has held preliminary talks for seat adjustment while expressing confidence that they will put up a united front for the MahaYuti’s defeat. Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP and Shiv Sena UBT are planning joint rallies and also state-wide tours individually.
Incidentally, Sharad Pawar-led NCP working president Supriya Sule has hinted that a final seat-sharing formula has already been worked out by the MVA partners it will soon be declared. Three partners have arrived at a consensus to accommodate the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi founded by Prakash Ambedkar in a serious bid to mobilise the votes of backward classes and the downtrodden.
As per the seat adjustment arrangement, Shiv Sena UBT may contest 18 to 19 seats, 13 by Congress, NCP 10, two each to Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Raju Shetti led Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana and 1 to Bahujan Vikas Aghadi led by Hitendra Thakur. MVA partners have claimed that BJP was using Ram to gain political mileage, saying that it was not the saffron party’s property. To counter the Modi wave, the MVA partners AE expected to corner the MahaYuti on issues like rising unemployment, farmers’ distress, rising urban and rural divide, crony capitalism, alleged misuse of central probe agencies and encroachment on the autonomy of various institutions and above all polarisation in the name of Hindu Rashtra.
However, MVA faces a huge challenge of matching the resources, both physical and financial, available to MahaYuti and also the organised network of respective parties up to both levels.
As the electioneering gathers momentum, both MahaYuti and MVA partners are expected to sharpen their attacks and tweak their plans to mop up voters’ support. However, MahaYuti and MVA partners to trade cautiously on the politically sensitive issue of reservation to Maratha, OBCs, and Dhangar communities to avoid a backlash.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
