Reeling from Lok Sabha poll debacle in Maharashtra, BJP scrambles for course correction: local roadmap to better communication

“Secondly, the party think tank has decided to follow a roadmap, largely designed by state leaders, and not the one thrust onto them by the central leadership,” sources said.

At a recent meeting of the state BJP leaders, held to analyse the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, they concluded that “centralised politics” was one of the key factors that led to the party’s failure in the recent polls. “The script came from the Centre. Our role was only to implement it in letter and spirit. We also got swayed by the Modi factor and ignored local issues. Our opponents took advantage of this,” a senior BJP leader said.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde with his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar. Their parties, Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, are part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state. (Express file photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)

The BJP is now also focusing on restoring confidence among its cadre and addressing the “lack of communication and coordination” between the cadre and leadership. “All organisational decisions are imposed on the cadre without adequate consultations. They are like an audience in a theatre,” a senior BJP minister said while requesting anonymity.

The minister also emphasised on the need to restore effective communication within the organisation. “The lack of communication remains the biggest problem in the BJP. How can we get accurate feedback from the grassroots if there is absence of continuous dialogue at multiple levels in the party?” he asked.

As a part of the BJP’s “course correction”, party leaders will also visit all 48 Lok Sabha constituencies to ascertain reasons for its poor showing and also formulate an action plan for the future. Sources said the party will hold another meeting next month to review the progress of its strategy.

Aware that the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance – comprising the Congress, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) – is poised to pose a stiff challenge to the Mahayuti in the Assembly polls, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said measures to identify and fix problems on all fronts have already been put in place. “Problems related to organisation, alliances are being addressed. We will make it flawless in the Assembly polls and work as a team,” he said.

Despite the BJP being the single largest party in the 288-member Assembly with 105 MLAs, the party leaders are aware that seat-sharing with its coalition partners is likely to be a tricky issue. The BJP, a source said, is ready to negotiate with Shinde and Ajit as the party leadership is aware that a split in the Mahayuti will further put the BJP on the back foot.

The BJP had contested the 2019 Assembly polls in alliance with the undivided Sena which won 56 seats. The Congress and the undivided NCP fought the polls in alliance and got 44 and 54 seats respectively.

“A few corrective measures will help us bounce back. Every party learns from its mistakes. If we work towards consolidating the 3% of our core vote base (which seemed to have favoured the MVA in the recent Lok Sabha polls), we can sweep the Assembly polls,” another senior BJP leader claimed.

In the Lok Sabha polls the BJP garnered 26.18% of the votes as against the 27.8% it did in 2019, while the Mahayuti’s 43.6% vote share was marginally lower than the MVA’s 43.9%. In terms of seat share, the ruling alliance won 17 seats while the MVA triumphed in 30.

Both Bawankule and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, whose offer to resign in the aftermath of the poll debacle was rejected by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, are among the many BJP leaders who admit that the upcoming Assembly polls may prove to be “do or die” for them. “The BJP will bounce back with a bang,” Fadnavis claimed while being aware that the challenges ahead would force him to walk a tightrope.