RSS-linked weekly on BJP setback in Maharashtra: 'Every worker says that failure started with ...'

The BJP, which contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the NCP and the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, could win only nine seats out of the 28 it contested.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),  the lack of communication among the party, its cadre and the Maharashtra government led to the saffron party’s poor show in the state in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, according a Sangh-affiliated Marathi weekly.

The cover story titled "Karyakarta khachlela nahi, tar sambhramat" (Worker is not discouraged, but confused) in the last issue of Vivek said every BJP worker while narrating the unease and reasons for failure in the Lok Sabha polls (in Maharashtra), starts with the alliance with the NCP.  “It is clear that the workers of the BJP have not liked joining hands with the NCP. Even the BJP leaders know this,” it stated as quoted by Indian Express.

The BJP, which contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the NCP and the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, could win only nine seats out of the 28 it contested. The state has 48 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP had won  23 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha  polls. The Shinde Sena and the NCP won seven seats and one out of 15 and four seats they contested respectively.

According to Indian Express, the Vivek article  also said the  BJP’s alliance with the Sena was Hindutva-based and was thus “natural”. “Despite a few hiccups, the decades-old BJP-Sena alliance is considered natural. But there was resentment with the NCP coming on board. The Lok Sabha results only added to this resentment. Parties and leaders make their calculations but what if they go wrong? This question needs to be answered,” the article stated.

It also claimed that the BJP is the only party which follows the natural process of making leaders out of workers.

The article also questioned if the BJP’s narratives of anti-Emergency struggle and sacrifices during the Ram Temple movement would resonate with the young voters in the upcoming state Assembly elections.

Since the Lok Sabha poll results, which saw the BJP fail to secure a majority on its own, a host of RSS leaders, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, have been “analysing” the party’s shortcomings.

According to the article, many BJP workers with a Hindutva ideology, who come from various sections of society and have achieved success, not only seek posts but want their “voices to be heard”.

The Vivek article also cited the example of Madhya Pradesh, where the BJP won all the 29 Lok Sabha seats. According to the article, the coordination between the party-led government, workers and beneficiaries was “excellent” there. “Here (in Maharashtra), the government, workers and those working with organisations with identical ideologies and the intellectual class have no coordination among themselves. This is extremely dangerous for the future. Unless this picture changes and the (party) worker is brought to the centre stage, the restlessness in the state will not change,” it stated.