Union Home Minister Amit Shah rekindled a long cherished dream of "shatpratishat" (hundred percent BJP), albeit with a pause. As the central leader made it clear that Mahayuti will come to power in the 2024 Assembly polls, he added that five years later in 2029, the BJP will be able to form the government alone on its own strength in Maharashtra. Sources in the BJP on Wednesday confirmed that "during his address to party workers in Mumbai, Shah emphatically said Mahayuti will win 2024 Assembly polls". Shah went on to state that the "BJP will be able to form government solo in the next Assembly polls in 2029". He was in Mumbai on a two-day visit on Tuesday and Wednesday to address party workers and review poll preparations in Mumbai, Thane and Konkan region. He addressed party workers in a closed door meeting at Dadar in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. It was followed by meetings with state leaders. He left Mumbai on Wednesday. The BJP's top state leadership have maintained a studied silence on Shah's optimism, leaving karyakartas to draw their own inferences and inspiration. A senior party functionary said, "During his address to Mumbai workers, Shah asked them to shed pessimism. He impressed upon party workers the significance of PM Narendra Modi's three consecutive term victory in the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls." The BJP's ambition has kept alliance partners on alert mode. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, "We will see how things unfold in 2029, which is far away." Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who leads the NCP, said, "Mahayuti is contesting the 2024 Assembly polls together. Every party feels it should expand and grow stronger." "The upcoming Assembly polls will be under the Mahayuti banner. It will be a coalition of three parties — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP," state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule reiterated. Shah also stressed that the Mahayuti — Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP — will together be able to defeat the Maha Vikas Aghadi and come to power in Maharashtra. According to one BJP Mumbai office bearer who attended the closed door meeting, "Amit Shah's address to karyakartas was like a tonic. His effort was to shake the workers from a defeatist mode. And by raking up the solo concept, he infused fresh hope among the karyakartas who are not comfortable with the alliance partners' dominance in Mahayuti." Taking a dig at Shah, NCP (SP) chief Jayant Patil quipped, "The fact that Amit Shah has to frequently come to Maharashtra shows that the party is in doldrums. It is unsure about itself in the polls. Or else, why would a central leader set aside elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir and devote so much time to Maharashtra?" He said. The concept of BJP going solo has been at the heart of every karyakarta since 2004. At BJP state executive meetings, individual leaders have atleast a dozen times voiced this issue, evoking applause from crowds. Ekla Chalo Re slogans have echoed many times. But top central and state leaders, taking into account ground realities, were forced to opt for coalition politics. Not withstanding Shah's optimism for 2029, Maharashtra — with its inherent geographical complexities and caste polarisation — seems to have reconciled with coalition politics. The era of a single party rule ended with the once dominant Congress party's decline in the early 1990s. Cut to 2024 and there are two major fronts — Mahayuti, comprising Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP versus Maha Vikas Aghadi with Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP). Since it's formation as a separate political party on April 6, 1980, the BJP has never been able to form the government solo. The party, along with its undivided alliance partner Shiv Sena, had come to power in Maharashtra in 1995. It lost the subsequent polls in 1999, paving way for the Congress and NCP coalition till 2014. The 2014 Assembly polls saw BJP emerging as the single largest party winning 122 seats out of the total of 288. Post polls, it formed government with alliance partner the undivided Shiv Sena, which won 63 seats. The Congress was reduced to 44 seats and NCP 41. In the 2019 Assembly polls, BJP retained the leading party tag with a reduced tally of 105 seats. However, its prepoll ally Shiv Sena, with 56 seats, switched sides by joining Congress and NCP to form the MVA government led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. It also marked the BJP's isolation, which was relegated to the opposition. In June 2022, the Shiv Sena's split saw Eknath Shinde lead 40 rebels in joining hands with the BJP to form a coalition government. A year later, the NCP split into two factions. The Ajit Pawar led-NCP became part of the Shinde coalition government.
