Events & Issues

New Delhi, 1 March 2017

BJP Maha Win

FADNAVIS, UNDISPUTED LEADER

By Nikhil Gajendragadkar

What the BJP has achieved in Maharashtra was unexpected. By wining eight of the 10 Municipal Corporations and 13 of the Zilla Parishads which went to the polls, the BJP has established itself as not just an urban party but a player in rural politics now. Besides, while it could not win the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Thane, the party succeeded in keeping the Shiv Sena away from power in BMC. And this for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was victory crafted almost single-handedly.

Among all the contests, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) was the centre of attraction. This is the richest civic body in India with an annual budget of over Rs. 40,000 crores.  Both the Shiv Sena and BJP, allies in the past were fighting against each other here after the split. The former is ruling BMC for the past two decades. Whether it would be lucky for the fifth time, was the big question. In the end, the BJP gave it a big jolt. The party improved its tally from 31 to 82, a whopping gain of almost 250%. On the other hand, the Shiv Sena, which had 75 seats in the previous BMC, managed to go up to only 84. Clearly, it can not rule Mumbai on its own.

The BJP’s win in Pune (PMC) Pimpri-Chinchwad (PCMC) and BMC are indeed significant. For over a decade PMC was ruled by the NCP, led by Ajit Pawar, nephew of founder President Sharad Pawar. Before that it was controlled by the Congress under the leadership of Suresh Kalmadi. For the first time, the BJP has gained control of PMC and that too with a complete majority with 98 seats out of 167. After over a decade, the PMC will be ruled a by a single party.

Pimpri-Chinchwad are twin industrial towns near Pune and the corporation was known as one of the richest in Asia. But that is history. In fact, PCMC was considered as NCP’s citadel for a long time. Here too Ajit Pawar’s word was final. The BJP has wrested power from the Pawar clan with a clear majority by winning 77 seats of the 128. This has surprised many political pundits.

Nagpur is the home city of Fadnavis and Union Road and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. So the BJP’s big win here was no surprise. The party also easily won couple of other Municipal Corporations from Vidarbha region. Nashik (or Nasik) MC was under control of Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray, but the BJP posted a major win there. Not long ago, NCP leader and champion of OBC cause Chagan Bhujbal, was considered a strong force in this city. Now he is in jail under various charges of corruption and the party has been pushed back with a dismal performance.

Solapur in southern Maharashtra is a city of Congress bigwig and former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. This time around he was projecting his daughter as the party’s leader. But here too the BJP has established clear supremacy and the Congress is suddenly appearing negligible.

In Zilla Parishads too, of the total 1509 seats, the BJP won 410, up from 165. Again, a huge gain. The Shiv Sena managed to improve from 233 to 264. But the Congress came down from 419 to 193 and the NCP was relegated to third position with only 346 seats-- down from 511.

The BJP had put up a good show in the first phase of civic elections. Its leadership wanted to repeat the success of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the second phase of civic elections too. In fact, the intent is to be in power from Panchayats to Parliament. The party is emphatically stressing that every election is a plebiscite on ‘Demonetisation’. On the other hand, the Opposition was alleging that demonetisation hit the poor and farmers hard and had asked the people not to vote for BJP. But that hasn’t been the case.

Strategically, Fadnavis entered the arena with the plank of ‘transparency in civic governance’. And, successfully connected these polls with Narendra Modi’s idea of ‘clean governance’. Actually issues in civic body elections are very different and these vary from city to city or town to town. Problems in rural area are again very different from those of cities. But the BJP has managed to create a nationwide aura that demonetisation is an attack on black money and those against it are corrupt!

So, what was the main ‘issue’ in this election? The truth is, there was none! Water supply, electricity, roads and traffic jams etc., are some of the problems faced by nearly every city in this country. The BJP sidelined these and instead highlighted corruption. The word and issue of ‘Development’ was used by every party. Many cities and even villages in Maharashtra are cursed with unauthorised constructions, unlawful activities and criminals. All parties have contributed to making cities miserable, yet they promised development. But voters chose the BJP.

The Congress-NCP combine was maligned because of many corruption charges and scams when it was in power in the State. During that period, the Government at the Centre too was facing a similar situation. Modi took advantage of it, and so did Fadnavis. He did not have any qualms about ‘importing’ strong candidates from other parties. Though he was criticised for it, the strategy worked for the party. The Congress and NCP or Shiv Sena failed to provide any viable alternative programme, which also helped BJP.

Though the BJP did not come to power in many Zilla Parishads or Panchayats, Fadnavis has undoubtedly established that the BJP is not just an urban party but a major player in rural politics too. His scheme of ‘Jalyukta Shivar’ (farm with water) helped over 11,000 villages, many of these in drought prone area, to combat water woes successfully. This attracted rural voters to the party.

The BJP has also limited the Shiv Sena to Mumbai that too with little scope for political maneuvering. With the Congress flatly denying Sena any help to put its candidate on the Mayoral post of the BMC, Uddhav Thackeray, who had threatened to pullout of the Government, has no other choice but to back Fadnavis.  

This election has also established Fadnavis as the pan Maharashtra leader. With all Central leaders busy with UP elections and unable to campaign in Maharashtra, Fadnavis took on the mantle. He took a whirlwind tour of the State, and even as all opposition leaders attacked him, he remained civil and restrained. On some occasions, his rallies didn’t attract the crowds but his presence turned goodwill into votes for BJP candidates. Besides, he has now calmed his distracters within the party. Thus, while the BJP has won big in the State, this victory belongs to Fadnavis, for sure. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)