Mumbai: One of the architects of Mahayuti’s clean sweep in Maharashtra, Amit Shah, recently came under fire for announcing “Mahayuti in ’24, Kamal ki Sarkar in ’29”. One can say now that his belief isn’t, after all, ill-founded. Looking at the assembly election results, it has been the biggest success in the past two decades for the BJP in the state. With 133 seats of its own from the winning basket of 229, the party is all set to have a say in who will be the chief minister.
Since 2019, Maharashtra has seen an unprecedented politically charged atmosphere with defections, party splits, unnatural alliances, Maratha vs OBC conflict, and polarisation of religious and caste-based votes, raising doubts about the Mahayuti government’s chances of even a fair run. Its alliance leaders may not agree now but they themselves were doubtful all along. The vindication in the form of a shower of votes makes one sit back and analyse what led to this almost-surreal victory.
Ladki Bahin Scheme
The BJP faced setbacks in Maharashtra during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning only nine out of 28 seats it contested, a sharp drop from the 23 out of 25 in 2019. Following this loss, the Eknath Shinde-led government launched the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana, aimed at women voters. Under this scheme, women aged 18 to 60 from families with an annual income below Rs2.5 lakh or less now receive Rs1,500 per month. The Mahayuti alliance further promised to increase this amount to Rs2,100 if re-elected. According to political experts, this initiative was a significant factor in swaying the vote of female citizens.
In this year’s Lok Sabha elections, 2.63 crore women electorate in Maharashtra exercised their franchise, accounting for 59% of the registered female voters. In comparison, 63% of male voters exercised their right to vote. When comparing the 2019 and 2024 elections, the gap between male and female voter turnout reduced by 3.75%.
Since 2014, there has been a noticeable rise in awareness and participation among women in elections. Maharashtra has a total of 4.64 crore registered women voters, out of which approximately 65.22% participated in the state assembly elections; an overall increase of 6% in comparison to the 2019 elections, highlighting their crucial role.
In Madhya Pradesh, despite the anti-BJP sentiment, the Ladli Behna Yojana, launched in March 2023, became a game-changer. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan openly acknowledged this after the assembly elections, stating that the scheme helped the BJP overcome all challenges. According to various reports, nearly 50% of women voters supported the BJP after the implementation of the scheme.
A similar trend appears to have unfolded in Maharashtra. Ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, surveys conducted by the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra indicated an unfavourable outcome. However, the scenario changed dramatically within 45 days, with the Ladki Bahin scheme. This has been admitted by all three key leaders of the alliance.
Saving Hindu Votes With Ek Hain To Safe Hain
Before the Lok Sabha elections, there were visible conflicts between Marathas and OBCs, as well as Dhangars and tribals in the state. As a result, the issue of reservations became a significant topic in the assembly election. In the Lok Sabha polls, Muslim voters collectively went against the BJP. However, Hindu voters did not appear as unified. This affected the BJP in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The Maha Vikas Aghadi appeared to benefit from caste-based polarisation in Maharashtra, with no apparent strategy devised by the BJP for Hindu unity.
Top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath, used slogans like “Ek hain toh safe hain (together we are safe)” and “Batenge toh katenge (divided we fall)” during this term’s campaign. The main message behind these slogans, despite the controversy, was to promote Hindu unity and to rally support from the OBCs for the ruling alliance.
These slogans were designed to counter the opposition’s claims that the BJP wanted to end reservation policies. They also addressed the Congress’ slogan, “Constitution is in danger”, which had reportedly helped the Maha Vikas Aghadi perform better in the Lok Sabha polls.
RSS Rallies All The Way
After the disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections, RSS, the party’s ideological backbone, stepped in to keep the ground under their feet. The RSS org.sed a large meeting in Mumbai, attended by BJP leaders, including Devendra Fadnavis. In total, the RSS held 60,000 small meetings across the state, encouraging BJP supporters to turn out and vote. Additionally, it launched a campaign called ‘Sajag Raho’ (Be Vigilant, Be Awake) through its network of 65 affiliated org.sations, further boosting the BJP’s performance.
Housing Society Polling Booths
Though the initiative of setting up polling booths in the housing societies across cities in the state was the Election Commission’s, the ruling alliance is said to have played a key part in the arrangement. This helped saffronised WhatsApp groups within housing societies to mobilise the electorate to come out and vote by shunning the apathy. The ease combined with the motivation to have the BJP in power is said to have brought in more lower and upper middle-class votes for the party.
