Assembly Elections 2019 | Six reasons why upcoming polls in Maharashtra and Haryana are important

Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana are expected to be held next month. The Election Commission is likely to announce the schedule soon.

The previous Assembly elections were held in the two states in a single phase and on the same date – October 15, 2014. The results for both were declared on October 19, 2014.

The BJP came to power in both states. In Haryana, the saffron party had a clear majority after it won 47 of the 90 seats.

In Maharashtra, however, the BJP fell short of the majority mark, winning only 122 of the 288 seats; while the Shiv Sena had won 63. That was the first time that the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested elections separately in 25 years. Later, both the parties had formed a post-poll alliance and BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis was appointed as the chief minister.

Here are six reasons that the upcoming elections are significant:

# These are going to be the first elections after the Lok Sabha polls

The upcoming state elections will be a litmus test for the BJP and PM Modi’s popularity after the Lok Sabha elections, in which the saffron party won a landslide 303 of 543 seats, while the NDA’s total tallied to an unprecedented 353.

In 2014 too, the BJP had won 282 seats, 10 more than the half-way mark, while the NDA’s total was 325 seats. At that time, the victory was largely attributed to a scam-tainted Congress and the Modi wave.

# First elections after the abrogation of Article 370

Haryana and Maharashtra will be the first two states that will go to polls after Article 370 provisions, that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, were scrapped and the state was bifurcated into Union Territories.

The removal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution has repeatedly found mention in BJP’s election manifesto since 1980. Hence, the move is only an assertion of their agenda and underscores BJP’s ideology of nationalism.

Naming the move an “achievement”, the BJP high command has decided to make the issue a central poll plank in the two states, The Times of India has reported. According to the newspaper, BJP President Amit Shah had made that clear in his public meeting at Solapur, Maharashtra on September 1.

# First election after triple talaq was banned

In the budget session of Parliament, the newly formed Modi 2.0 government abolished the practice of instantaneous triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat, calling it discriminatory against Muslim women.

It was considered a bold move on part of the Modi government, concerning Muslims.

The outcome of the Assembly elections will be a referendum by the Muslim community in the two states on banning triple talaq. It will make for interesting analyses, giving insight into what the Muslims, especially women, feel about the BJP government and its policies.

# Rahul Gandhi’s resignation

The Assembly elections also come in the backdrop of the country’s largest Opposition party being decimated in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress, which faced a shameful defeat in the general election, will go to polls in the two states after it was rejected by the mandate in May this year. The Grand Old Party is being currently steered by Sonia Gandhi, who has held the reins of the party for 19 years, before she passed on the baton to son Rahul in 2017.

Rahul Gandhi resigned as party chief after the Lok Sabha elections, taking full responsibility of the defeat. Even when senior party leaders compelled him to reconsider, Rahul stuck to his decision. Finally, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) chose Sonia Gandhi as the interim president.

# Economic slowdown and jobs

The elections will also be held when the country is witnessing a slowdown in the economy, with the April to June quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth plummeting to a seven-year-low of 5 percent.

The slump was for the fifth straight quarter as consumer demand and private investment decelerated vis-à-vis the global environment.

To make matters worse, the unemployment data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in May confirmed the pre-election leaked report’s claim of joblessness in 2017-18 being at a 45-year-high of 6.1 percent.

The data has given adequate fodder to the Opposition parties to attack the ruling BJP in Maharashtra as well as Haryana. The twin issues of slow growth and high unemployment can be their poll plank, while it is to be seen if the BJP can combat this.

# Unconventional chief ministers

Five years ago, the BJP had given its nod to a set of unconventional chief ministers for the state of Maharashtra and Haryana.

In Maharashtra, where the Marathas dominate politics, Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin was made chief minister. He is the only the second Brahmin after Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena to hold the office.

Similarly, in a state dominated by Jats, Manohar Lal Khattar – a Punjabi – was picked to become chief minister. Khattar was the first non-Jat chief minister of Haryana in 18 years, after Bhajan Lal.

In 2014, the BJP had not announced their chief ministerial candidates ahead of the elections. This time around, however, both the leaders are leading the campaign in their respective states.

The response of the Marathas and the Jats to this, in Maharashtra and Haryana respectively, will make the party’s position more clear.