BJP Likely To Push For Party CM Face In The Upcoming Maharashtra Polls

It has been nearly two years now since Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde wrested control of the Shiv Sena from Uddhav Thackeray and staked a claim to form government along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The BJP, despite being the single largest party in the state assembly, had agreed to cede the premiership of the state to Sena’s Shinde considering the urgency to dislodge the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in power. However, this might not be the case now in the upcoming state assembly elections.

As per a Loksatta report, ever since assuming the mantle of the state, CM Shinde has made several visits to New Delhi where he would meet senior BJP leaders to discuss Maharashtra’s political scenario apart from holding talks on official matters.

In one such visit, the CM is said to have been assured by senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with other leaders from the saffron party that he will continue to be CM if Mahayuti is voted back into power.

However, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) functionaries have now reportedly urged the central leadership of the BJP to play on the front foot in Maharashtra.

The reasoning behind RSS’s advice is said to have been the recent Shivaji Statue Collapse controversy in which the sculptor is said to have been closely related to the CM and the latter’s inability to rein in Sena leaders making provocative statements that are souring relations within the ruling coalition.

“The senior leadership is not satisfied with the CM's handling of the ongoing Maratha agitation. The agitation chief Manoj Jarange has been making personal remarks against our leader Deputy CM Fadnavis and is claiming that the latter is anti-Maratha. The CM should have strongly refuted such allegations immediately in team spirit. He did come out in support of the Deputy CM later but it wasn’t very effective.

“Then there are also concerns regarding CM’s handling of controversial issues like the Badlapur minors sexual assault case and the recent statue collapse. Moreover, since BJP’s Lok Sabha seat share in the state has come down sharply, a leader from the party like Deputy CM Fadnavis being declared as the CM face would boost the cadre’s morale,” a senior party functionary working in the BJP state headquarters said on the condition of anonymity.

The elections for the Maharashtra state assembly were expected to be held in October, 2024 along with the polls in Haryana. However, the elections in the former have been postponed by the polling body citing technical challenges and are likely to be held now post Diwali festival in November, 2024.