After the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ascribed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) poor performance in Maharashtra to its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction, dissonant chords are now being sounded by the Maharashtra BJP leadership over the need to keep up the alliance with the NCP faction ahead of the crucial Maharashtra Assembly election later this year.
According to sources, Maharashtra BJP leaders, as well as leaders from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction, are particularly unhappy with the lack of vote transfer in Assembly segments held by NCP MLAs.
At the BJP’s review meet in Mumbai last week to take stock of the party’s dismal Lok Sabha performance, a number of leaders are reported to have complained to the State brass that their alliance with Mr. Ajit Pawar’s ideologically opposed NCP had sent out a “negative message” to the public and had cost the BJP dearly on several key Lok Sabha seats.
The BJP, in alliance with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Mr. Ajit Pawar’s NCP, was forced to eat humble pie in the Lok Sabha election, being reduced to a single digit figure in the State after winning just nine of the 29 seats contested — down by 14 seats when compared with its tally of 23 in 2019.
The alliance with Mr. Ajit Pawar’s NCP is being singled out as the prime factor, particularly in the BJP’s defeats in western and northern Maharashtra. After a shotgun marriage with the NCP in July 2023, when Mr. Ajit Pawar split his uncle Sharad Pawar’s party, it appears Maharashtra BJP leaders now want to sue for a divorce.
Apart from the BJP’s Mumbai ‘chintan baithak’ last week, several BJP leaders — either defeated candidates or those whose leaders were in-charge of campaigning in seats where the saffron party lost — met with RSS members in Pune’s Motibaug on Monday.
Leaders like Bharti Pawar, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil (whose son Sujay Vikhe lost the Ahmednagar seat), Gopichand Padalkar, Chandrakant Patil, among others held a day-long meeting with RSS leaders to take stock of their poll rout and focus on future strategies, among them being the need for an alliance with the NCP, sources said.
State BJP leaders claim half-hearted campaigning by the Ajit Pawar-led NCP caused defeats on several seats. In the Solapur Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP’s Ram Satpute was trounced by the Congress’ Praniti Shinde despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi holding multiple rallies.
Local BJP leaders have singled out the Mohol Assembly segment, where Yashwant Mane is the legislator from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Results indicated that Mr. Satpute trailed by 63,000 votes from Mohol.
In Madha, despite the BJP’s Ranjitsinh Naik-Nimbalkar being the sitting MP before the election, his contest with the NCP-Sharad Pawar’s (SP) Dhairyasheel Mohite-Patil turned into a chronicle of a defeat foretold as the Mahayuti alliance proved unsuccessful in quelling opposition to Mr. Naik-Nimbalkar on part of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP group.
BJP leaders blame Ajit-faction MLA Baban Shinde (the legislator from Madha Assembly constituency) for not doing enough to ensure Mr. Naik-Nimbalkar’s victory as well as Ramraje Naik-Nimbalkar, a senior leader from Mr. Ajit Pawar’s party, for not reconciling with his political rival, Mr. Naik-Nimbalkar.
Likewise, the BJP suffered a major upset in Dindori when its sitting MP (before the polls) Bharti Pawar had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the NCP (SP)’s Bhaskar Bhagare.
Of the six Assembly segments in Dindori, four are held by Mr. Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction leaders. Local BJP leaders are upset that lacklustre campaigning for Ms. Bharti Pawar (Yeola Assembly segment) on part of NCP leaders, including Nitin Pawar and Chhagan Bhujbal, caused her defeat.
The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena MP from Maval, Shrirang Barne, had openly said soon after the election that the cadre of Mr. Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction had put on a less than honourable showing. While NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) spokesperson Umesh Patil admitted that the required vote transfer did not take place in a number of segments, he dismissed talk of cracks within the ruling Mahayuti.
“The reality is that the public did not listen to us despite our best efforts to convince them to vote for our candidates. Just as in 2014, there was a wave in favour of Narendra Modi, so this time, several sections among farmers, Muslims and the merchant classes turned against us. That said, all three parties stand united in the Mahayuti and all our leaders have jointly accepted responsibility for this defeat,” Mr. Umesh Patil said.
Published - June 18, 2024 04:57 pm IST
