Maharashtra polls: Six factors that propelled Mahayuti to an emphatic victory

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The ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra is all set to record an emphatic win, with the combined tally likely to surpass the 210-mark.

The preliminary reading of the election outcome indicates that NDA deployed targeted strategies to overcome Lok Sabha setback, aiming to turn the script with farmer relief, women’s welfare, and unparalleled amplification of regional pride.

The outcome will certainly give fillip to the BJP, which won an unprecedented hat-trick in Haryana last month, and help the party overcome some of its reverses in the general elections where it bagged 240 seats.

Voters in the politically significant western state of Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha and gave the MVA a decisive 30 seats, clearly decided to go against the trend of that parliamentary victory just five months ago.

Here are some of the factors that may have enabled  a sweep for the ruling alliance:

1) Ladki Bahin Yojana- Ahead of Diwali, the ruling alliance announced the Ladki Bahin Yojana, an initiative aimed at empowering women through financial assistance. Under the scheme, eligible women receive Rs 1,500 per month in their bank accounts. It helps improve the finances, health and nutrition of women, while promoting their role within their families.

Adding to the ongoing payouts, the Shinde-govt announced a special Diwali Bonus under the Ladki Bahin Yojana for 2024. Instead of the usual monthly payment of Rs 1,500, eligible women received Rs 3,000 from October.

2) Mahayuti's altered strategy- After the Lok Sabha setback, the ruling Mahayuti altered its strategy to focus primarily on local issues and its grassroots constituents. The saffron party's enhanced focus on the farm issues appears to have paid dividends in the overall poll outcome. Large groups of farm constituents supported the party after it reached out to the cotton and soybean farmers with assurances on the MSP issue. BJP promised to procure cotton crops above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) this season and to procure soybean under the Price Support Scheme with moisture content tolerance of up to 15 per cent.

3) Strong OBC consolidation in the Mahayuti’s favour- With PM Narendra Modi's slogan of, 'ek hain to safe hain', the Mahayuti aimed to cash in  on the anxiety among OBCs regarding their share of reservations in educational institutions and government jobs, which they feared might shrink if Marathas are included in the OBC list.

Consolidation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) votes, seem to richly benefitted the ruling alliance, as part of the Mahayuti alliance, has been actively working to consolidate non-Maratha votes, particularly among the OBCs.

The OBC consolidation has worked in favour of the BJP and its allies and has been instrumental in the saffron party making governments in several states and the centre. The strategy also proved successful in the recent Haryana elections.

4) Role of RSS- After the Lok Sabha debacle, Rashtirya Sangh Parivar has put all its might to ensure that the Bharatiya Janata Party comes back to power in the state. The Sangh’s involvement in the elections came weeks after the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. The Sangh leaders and BJP leaders met for a two day conclave in Mumbai.

In the closed event, the RSS leaders gave a presentation on why the BJP performed poorly in the Lok Sabha polls. The meet itself was significant not just because the RSS participated in it but also because the Sangh got all its affiliates to also participate in it. Relations between the RSS and BJP were strained over several issues including the BJP not giving tickets to those candidates recommended by the RSS in the Lok Sabha.

5) How Mahayuti managed to pacify Marathas, tribals and religious leaders- The Sangh played a decisive role in negating any electoral disadvantages these group could have brought upon the alliance. The Sangh ensured that one of the groups formed during the conclave singularly reached out to the Maratha community that was upset with the BJP over the stir by Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil and tasked to give the BJP view on the reservations. The Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram representatives were tasked with working with the state’s tribal community to win them over.

6) How BJP rolled out farmer-friendly initiatives- Taking cues from the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP government at the Centre had taken many moves in the recent two months to attract farmers in poll-bound Maharashtra. The Modi government's latest action was the extension of the National Mission on Edible Oils - Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds) to promote oil seed production.

This decision is also targeted at attracting farmers in Maharashtra, where oil seeds, particularly soybeans, and a few other crops are produced in huge quantities. Similarly, the Centre abolished the Minimum Export Price (MEP) of $550 per tonne for onions and halved the 40% levy imposed on onion exports in May. The decision has been taken shortly before of assembly elections in Maharashtra, the country's major onion producer.