BJP’s gains puncture other parties’ prospects

Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP vote share have all been hit by BJP’s improved performance in civic and local body polls

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has done well to ensure the success of his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the elections to 10 municipal corporations including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 25 zilla parishads and 283 panchayat samitis.

Fadnavis not only took on the Shiv Sena on its home turf but also increased the BJP’s footprint in Maharashtra, especially in rural areas, which are traditional bastions of the Opposition Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Of the 1,268 seats in the 10 municipal corporations, the BJP’s seat strength rose to 580 from 207 in 2012, and it has got a majority in eight civic bodies. The party snatched power from the NCP in the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations while in the Nashik civic body it defeated the ruling Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Similarly, it has won a majority single-handedly in nine zilla parishads and may make a bid for power in another four with the Shiv Sena.

Fadnavis has proved his critics and rivals wrong with the BJP’s sterling performance, which comes on the heels of its good showing in the elections to the municipal councils and nagar panchayats last year. The party under Fadnavis’ leadership has continued its victory march by effectively selling the development agenda.

Besides, the BJP also succeeded in convincing the voters that its rule at the Centre, in the state and civic and local bodies would boost development.

Ironically, the Congress and the NCP, which have yet to come out of shock following the successive humiliating defeats in the elections to the Lok Sabha, Assembly and municipal councils, failed to cash in on the disruption caused by demonetisation.

The BJP decided to go for broke by challenging the party’s erstwhile ally, the Shiv Sena, in the BMC election. It was a calculated move to project the BJP as a party that had committed itself to transformation through transparency if it earned a majority in the BMC. While doing so it held the Shiv Sena responsible for the sorry state of affairs at the metropolis now, the alleged mafia raj and scams. The Shiv Sena, on the other hand, diluted its Marathi Manoos plank and reached out to all voters.

Both Fadnavis and Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray campaigned bitterly. Thackeray termed the BJP “cobra” and did not spare Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis either. On his part, Fadnavis hit out at the Shiv Sena for the supposed lack of development and transparency in functioning, and the surge in corruption at the BMC, where the Shiv Sena was the senior partner.

The Shiv Sena has managed to emerge as the single-largest party in the BMC for the fifth successive time, winning 84 seats, but falling far short of 114, the majority mark. The victory has been attributed to Thackeray’s micro planning, invoking the party’s Marathi credentials against the BJP, and a split in Gujarati votes due to the Patidar agitation in Gujarat. This apart, the party was able to hold on to its traditional Mararthi vote and also mobilise support from the Muslims and other non-Marathi voters.

The election results have punctured Thackeray’s dreams of emerging as a regional satrap like Nitish Kumar and Mamata Banerjee. He has been left with two options — to play second fiddle to the BJP or be prepared to sacrifice power. The Shiv Sena managed to retain its supremacy in the Thane civic body but failed to put up an impressive showing in the other eight. Similarly, it has got a majority in the Ratnagiri zilla parishad by winning 39 seats while the party has won 25 of the 73 seats in Nashik, 20 of the 61 in Yavatmal, and 18 of the 62 seats in Aurangabad.

Thackeray hardly campaigned in these areas and concentrated on Mumbai.

But the BJP exceeded its own expectations by winning 108 seats in Nagpur, the hometown of Fadnavis and Union Minister for Roads Nitin Gadkari. Further, the party surged in Vidarbha, where it had won a record 44 seats in the Assembly election in October 2014. The party has retained its hold in Akola, where the Bharatiya Republican Party leader and B R Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, cut no ice.

The BJP wrested Amravati from the Congress by winning 45 seats, up from seven in the 87-member civic body. The Congress has been reduced to 15 from 25 and the Shiv Sena to seven from 11.

However, the BJP met with a reverse in Beed district, represented by State Minister for Rural Development Pankaja Munde. In Parali, her home turf, the BJP lost eight of the 10 seats to the NCP. Munde has offered to resign but Fadnavis has said he will not accept it. In the Beed zilla parishad, the NCP is the largest party with 25 of the 60 seats while the BJP is second with 19 seats.

With the BJP consolidating its position in Maharashtra, Fadnavis will now focus on development projects including infrastructure, irrigation and water supply. The Assembly elections are expected in SeptemberOctober 2019.