BJP's poor Lok Sabha polls show due to alliance with Ajit Pawar's NCP? RSS-linked weekly says…
The BJP's seat tally in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, slipped to nine this time as compared to 23 in 2019.
A Marathi weekly affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that voter sentiments in Maharashtra turned against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following its alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, resulting in bad performance of the saffron party.
As per a PTI report, the RSS-affiliated publication ‘Vivek' carried out an informal survey of 200 individuals from Mumbai, Konkan and western Maharashtra to analyse the reasons behind the Lok Sabha election setback to BJP.
The BJP's seat tally in Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, slipped to nine from 23 in 2019 elections. According to the survey, BJP members and individuals disapproved of the party's decision to join forces with Pawar, who split his uncle Sharad Pawar's NCP and joined the ‘Mahayuti’ coalition in July last year.
Ajit Pawar's faction, which was recognised as the real NCP by the Election Commission in February, could win just one seat. The Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde secured seven seats in the Lok Sabha.
The report pointed to alleged discontent within the state BJP ranks, claiming the disapproval among its members on alliance with the NCP.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) won 30 out of 48 seats. It constituents Congress won 13, Shiv Sena (UBT) bagged 9 and NCP (SP) got seven seats.
The BJP faced criticism after it formed alliance with the NCP, drifting from its traditional partnerships.
"However, the sentiments went totally against the party (BJP) after it joined hands with the NCP. The question also arises about the future plans of the party when political arithmetic went against it because of the NCP," the report noted.
The article highlighted concerns about the BJP's tendency to induct leaders from other parties, “bypassing the traditional process of grooming talent within the organisation.”
The RSS-linked weekly report also focussed on the significance of internal party coordination and the empowerment of BJP workers in decision-making processes, citing these factors as key contributors to the BJP's success in Madhya Pradesh, where the party secured all 29 Lok Sabha seats.
