Face off, campaign on

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the city on Saturday. Pic/Atul Kamble (right) Rahul Gandhi

The country's two top political leaders were in Maharashtra on Saturday. It was kind of a face-off between two national parties, the BJP and Congress, ahead of the state Assembly elections that are weeks away. Speaking from different places, they set an agenda for their respective alliances. Apart from bashing Congress, PM Narendra Modi pushed development and welfare schemes as poll planks. Labharthis have the BJP's focus. In places like Mumbai, the party has showcased its infrastructure and public transport achievements. Many more projects worth thousands of crores have been launched at the hands of the PM, who said that the Opposition, when it was in power, delayed projects like Metro-3.

Elsewhere, Lok Sabha opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, slammed the BJP and RSS. He promised to remove the 50 per cent cap on reservations. He linked quota expansion with the empowerment of the deprived classes and protection of the Constitution - a narrative that helped the INDIA front to cut the BJP's Lok Sabha strength. Congress won most of the Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, leading to a belief that it could be the single largest party in the Assembly. Gandhi's speech points seemed to be a Lok Sabha-like line of campaign. If one adds to its local and state issues, the script could be complete. There will be improvisation as and when the situation demands. The Constitution-related campaign originated when a BJP leader said why his party needed 400-plus MPs.

BJP hasn't taken things lying down since the drop in the Lok Sabha numbers, which witnessed a new low in Maharashtra. Master poll strategist Amit Shah has visited the state frequently to imbibe confidence in the rank and file of the BJP and convince the allies' chieftains about how to beat the Opposition. After Lok Sabha, the BJP has been working to negate the Constitution-related allegations. In regards to affirmative action, the BJP-led alliance in Maharashtra has extended benefits through some new community/caste-specific economic development bodies. A larger section that comprises Marathas and OBCs is divided over quota demands.

They have a major role in the matters of politics of division. In addition to some OBC groups and sections of Marathas, the BJP has been wooing smaller caste groups on its side so that their collective strength could change equations in the Assembly constituencies where even a small count matters most. Granting classical status for the Marathi language may not have that pull in terms of vote conversion, but considering politics over Marathi pride, the decision has given the BJP and its partners a rallying point to fan ‘Marathi Asmita'.

Effect of other state results

Maharashtra elections were not scheduled with Haryana, which went to polls along with Jammu and Kashmir. The results will be out tomorrow (Tuesday), followed by the announcement of the Maharashtra elections early next week. All are sure that, like Navratri, the Dussehra celebrations will not be curbed by a model code of conduct. In reality, the ground battle will gain speed once the two northern states decide their governments. Exit polls have favoured non-BJP alliances, with Congress' upper hand in Haryana and others in J&K. Congress leaders are saying, "Didn't we say so?". The BJP leaders remind them of the Chhattisgarh and MP exit polls that had gone completely wrong. If not in BJP's favour, the results will give Maha Vikas Aghadi an edge in campaigning, but the question is whether the advantage will convert into votes in a state that is so different from Haryana and J&K.

Pat for Fadnavis

In his speeches in Maharashtra, PM Narendra Modi specifically mentioned the Devendra Fadnavis government of 2014-2019 for conceptualising and starting work on infrastructure and other projects without any delay. In Vidarbha's Washim where Banjara Museum has come up, Modi heaped praises on Fadnavis for the project. In Mumbai's Metro-3 and other mega projects where ruling partners also stood up to share the spoils, due credit was given to the leader. Modi said Fadnavis, as CM, had completed Metro-3's sixty per cent work, but the Maha Vikas Aghadi government stalled the project just to soothe its ego. The delay increased the project cost by another Rs 14,000 crore, he said. Not long ago, Amit Shah told the state party leaders that Fadnavis was in charge of state party affairs and he would resolve issues, if any. The PM's and HM's praise and approval should bring some big cheers to the Fadnavis supporters, who were bogged down by speculations about their leader's future placement in the party.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore
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