Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: BJP Faces Challenges Amid Leadership Issues And Declining Performance; Devendra Fadnavis's Role Under Scrutiny

Mumbai: The mishandling of the party unit in Maharashtra by the central leadership of the BJP is being mentioned as the basic reason why the organisation is diffident about facing the assembly elections. The Election Commission of India on Friday announced assembly polls in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana, but not in Maharashtra where the assembly's term will end on November 26, 2024.

The BJP had fought the 2019 assembly elections in tandem with its long-time ally, the Shiv Sena. But following differences with Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, who suggested that the chief minister's five-year tenure be equally shared by the allies, the saffron alliance split. Uddhav turned the tables on the BJP and formed the MVA government with the help of the Congress and the NCP led by Sharad Pawar.

It was then that BJP leaders like Amit Shah tasked senior leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis with the job of pulling down the government helmed by Uddhav. And Fadnavis did an uber smart job of it by working on senior Sena leader Eknath Shinde. He did such a super efficient job that Uddhav had no clue that a revolt was brewing right under his nose. Afraid of losing the vote of confidence, Uddhav put in his paper rather than face the humiliation of being ousted.

Almost everybody in the BJP took it for granted that the BJP's central leadership will reward Fadnavis with chief ministership. "We were stunned when Shinde's name was proposed for the CM's post. Fadnavis felt that a ton of bricks had fallen on him and he refused to join the new government. But party president JP Nadda held a press conference in New Delhi and announced that Fadnavis will indeed be a part of the government. Fadnavis had no choice but meekly accept the decision. Since then our party has been politically sliding down. This became clear when our performance in the Lok Sabha polls was pathetic. In 2019 we bagged 23 seats and this year a measly 9 seats. "

According to political observers the party appears to have learnt no lesson from its rout in the LS polls. Fadnavis is finding himself totally dependent on CM Shinde and even deputy CM Ajit Pawar appears to be not amenable to him. Shinde is projecting himself as the Maha Yuti's CM candidate. The slew of social welfare schemes like the Ladki Bahin programme have been taken over by Shinde to shore up his image. Even Ajit Pawar has hired a strong PR team to politically project himself.

A senior member of the ward room set up by Fadnavis told the FPJ that "we have been asked by Delhi to project only PM Modi. So how can we help Fadnavis?" In sharp contrast, the MVA appears to be more confident of repeating its success in the LS polls. There is relatively more unity and sense of purpose among the MVA constituents. The ongoing Maratha reservation agitation, which is believed to be the brainchild of Sharad Pawar, is expected to substantially deprive the BJP of the community's votes.