BJP resolves to fight Assembly polls as Mahayuti, but underlines its leadership role at Maharashtra meet

As per sources, the Sena could start from an initial demand of 100-plus seats, the NCP 90 seats, and the BJP 150-plus. With the total Assembly seats 288, every party will have to ultimately climb down to accommodate the others, BJP leaders admitted.

A senior BJP functionary said: “Managing a three-party alliance is not easy. There will be issues in formalizing seat-sharing. However, politically, the Mahayuti has to remain together if it has to fight the MVA.”

The BJP also discussed the strategies needed to consolidate its own electoral base apart from helping that of its alliance partners. Speaking to reporters ahead of Friday’s meeting, Maharashtra BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said: “We reviewed 150 constituencies in detail Thursday and the remaining 138 will be completed today… At this point, our agenda is not to reflect on seat division within the Mahayuti… (But) Winnability will be the main criteria.”

Bawankule said the review included an assessment of the BJP’s strength constituency-wise, as well as how the party could supplement its partners’ efforts.

Among the issues discussed at the core committee meeting, sources said, was the need to galvanize grassroot workers, project a united front, and ensure greater coordination between the RSS and BJP.

The party will be holding a day-long state conclave in Pune on July 21, where the issues will be further hammered out. Union minister Nitin Gadkari is to deliver the inaugural address, while Union minister Amit Shah’s speech will wrap up the proceedings.

One of the top items on the agenda of the Pune conclave will be the welfare schemes announced in the recent Maharashtra budget by the Mahayuti government, with the coalition banking high on them after its shocking setback of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP is most hopeful about the Mukhyamantri Ladli Bahin Yojna, promising cash transfers to women.

CM Shinde, as head of the government, and Deputy CM Ajit, as the Finance Minister, have already hit the ground to spread the word about the schemes, thus claiming ownership. Now, the BJP will rope in women karyakartas to spread the word on the Ladli Bahin Yojana apart from schemes like monthly stipends for the unemployed and electricity bill waiver for farmers.

BJP leaders also underlined the need to come up with a counter-narrative to win back the party’s OBC traditional vote bank and to defuse anger among the Marathas over the quota issue.

On Friday, Bawankule said: “It was Devendra Fadnavis who as CM in 2018 gave Marathas reservation for the first time in the history of Maharashtra.” While the quota faced legal challenges, he said, it was under the Maha Vikas Aghadi government led by Uddhav Thackeray that the Supreme Court scrapped the quota. Bawankule said this was because of the MVA’s failure to furnish details on the social and educational backwardness of Marathas. “It was Thackeray who let the Marathas down.”