Maharashtra Outcome: National Significance - Comeback by BJP; Congress / Opppositon in Disarry
Asia News Agency
Devendra Fadnavis was finally sworn in as Chief Minister of Maharashtra, succeeding from Eknath Shinde who made a strong bid for the post himself. This was the third term as Chief Minister for Fadnavis.
The Maharashtra elections however, were more important for Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is on a stronger footing now. The outcome, according to Pranab Dhal Samanta (Executive Editor, Politics, ET) “reverses the tide from the general elections that had, just five months ago, snatched the single-party majority his government had enjoyed since 2014. While allies have given no reason yet to suspect NDA's stability at the Centre, BJP found its big picture shaken and stirred."
Strong comeback by BJP: For this reason, “this claw-back story is important. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the big dent in BJP numbers came from defeats in UP, Maharashtra, Haryana and West Bengal. Over the past five months, BJP has made a strong comeback in two states - Maharashtra and Haryana - while showing shoots of a recovery in UP, where it won 7 of the 9 assembly bypolls…..”
Serious post-mortem of Lok Sabha results: Soon after Lok Sabha polls, BJP, along with RSS Samanta states “did some serious post-mortem of the results, made tactical micro-level shifts, continued to focus on women-centric welfare schemes, and ran a bottom-up campaign. But the entire effort rested on a key assumption that the 'Modi vote' had turned complacent. Or, had split up in some parts of the country in the general elections and needed to be stitched back and drawn out. In Maharashtra, particularly, where the assembly turnout jumped by nearly 6% from the Lok Sabha polls, BJP can now believe that the overarching 'Modi narrative' still holds good.”
Comeback by BJP’s second and third-rung leadership: The elections also indicated that the “second- and third-rung leadership - relatively raw in the first Modi term - has become efficient and seasoned enough to hit the ground again and rebuild in short time…..state leaders, were able to execute clever shifts in ground tactics to help script a comeback, providing crucial back-up to Modi and Amit Shah.”
The timeliness of these victories, writes Samanta “has got BJP perked up, making it believe that the general elections were not the start of a declining trend but an aberration. In other words, questions around leadership and the future have receded for now, providing a big impetus to PM's governance agenda.”
Congress, INDIA in disarray
On the other hand, the Congress and the Opposition is in disarray. Rahul Gandhi’s magnificent obsession with Gautam Adani, has been a public relations disaster. “For him, for the Congress, and for INDIA,” according to analyst Shailaja Bajpai, writing in ThePrint.
In June 2024, after the Lok Sabha elections saw a revival for the Congress from 54 seats to 99, and the BJP dropped to 230 seats from 303, Rahul Gandhi was lauded and applauded for the ‘victory’. Opinions polls took note, too, indicating a huge increase in his standing. Overnight, he was Leader of the Opposition, his every step and word followed by the media and the public.
The political forecast, recalls Bajpai, “was sunny days ahead, for Congress and the INDIA coalition bloc—it was said, at the time, that the former would win Haryana and the latter Maharashtra in the forthcoming assembly elections—and the alliance would go from strength to strength.
“Throughout this period, Rahul Gandhi hammered away on pet themes from his successful Lok Sabha campaign: Adani, Adani, Adani, the BJP’s threat to the Constitution and to democracy. Again and again, in his public comments, his election campaign addresses, his parliamentary speeches, his press conferences, he insisted these as the most important issues before the nation.”
The people disagreed. Congress suffered embarrassing losses in Haryana and Maharashtra to a resurgent BJP. “The sun went behind the clouds and, suddenly, INDIA is in disarray.” Rahul Gandhi’s decision to persist with Gautam Adani, democracy, and Constitution as the issues to highlight as part of his political strategy for the Congress “doesn’t seem to have public appeal….”
