BJP may be down but not out in Maharashtra: Devendra Fadnavis

“We will bounce back. What happened in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was a temporary setback as the results were not upto our expectations. But then the electoral loss was due to ‘fake narrative’,” Fadnavis said.

Urging party workers to work with greater zeal, Fadnavis said, “ We should always bear in mind that our overall vote share in Mumbai or Maharashtra has remained intact. In Maharashtra we lost only two lakh votes. The Mahayuti polled just two lakh votes less compared to Maha Vikas Aghadi.”

According to Fadnavis, the Lok Sabha poll outcome has shown that Marathis and Mumbaikars did not vote for Shiv Sena (UBT).

“What gave them success is the votes from one particular minority community,” he added.

“The Shiv Sena (UBT) for last two years compromised its ideology. They had moved away from Hindutva agenda. They had stopped using the term ‘Hindu’ brothers and sisters in their speech. Instead, they indulged in appeasement of Muslims,” the BJP leader alleged.

“The elections for the Mumbai Graduate constituency gives us an golden opportunity to once against show our strength. It also gives up an opportunity to counter the fake narrative and appeasement politics which had worked to our rivals’ advantage in Lok Sabha polls,” he told BJP workers.

After the debacle in Lok Sabha polls, BJP has turned elections to Mumbai Graduate Constituency, which would elect candidate for Maharashtra Legislative Council, into a prestige battle.

The party has fielded Kiran Shelar for the Mumbai Graduate seat against the Sena UBT’s former minister Anil Parab.

Shelar is the editor of Mumbai Tarun Bharat, a Marathi daily affiliated to RSS.

“In Kiran Shelar, we have fielded a candidate from our parivar. He is ideologically committed to RSS. He is young and dedicated to the BJP organisation. With his humble background he is well versed with the problems of common Mumbaikars,” Fadnavis added.