Triumph of lotus

The outcome of the Maharashtra assembly elections calls for raising a toast to democracy. Unmoved by the competing agendas and fiery rhetoric in the hustings, the electorate has acted responsibly by denying any one party absolute majority. Once again the voters’ sagacity has trumped exit poll predictions, which had forecast the BJP coming to power without the crutch of a post-poll alliance.

Undoubtedly, the BJP is the most favoured party in the state. Along with its pre-poll allies, it has scooped up 123 seats, and emerged as the single largest party — raising the tally by a whopping 76 seats when compared to the 2009 assembly polls. But, it still falls short of the dream number of 145 — a brute majority, for which it had marshalled all its resources. The results are disappointing only if one compares the party’s sweeping victory in the state in the Lok Sabha polls.

The border skirmishes and the tense Indo-Pak relations notwithstanding, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 27 rallies in the state — an overwhelming indication of Maharashtra’s importance in the BJP’s scheme of things. In a bid to replicate the UP-style success the party enjoyed in the general elections, Amit Shah had drawn up an elaborate strategy, getting in a stellar cast of its central leadership and Chief Ministers from BJP-ruled states. The hard work has translated into spectacular victories in a few important pockets. For instance, despite a low turnout of its traditional support base of Gujarati voters in Mumbai, it has trounced the Shiv Sena on its turf by bagging 15 out of 36 seats in the country’s financial capital. In Vidarbha, the BJP with 44  seats has cruised far ahead of the Sena (4) and the Congress (10). In Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, the party notched up 24 and 16 victories, respectively, without much opposition from the Sena, Congress and the NCP. North Maharashtra, too, rallied behind the lotus leadership, ensuring 14 seats. The Sena’s aspirations of becoming a Trinamool Congress or a BJD — two regional parties ruling West Bengal and Odisha, respectively with a decisive majority — have come crashing down, with a meagre total of 63 seats. But, even in defeat the Sena sniffs great opportunities. Now, the BJP needs its former ally more than ever for a coalition government. The taste of power may have softened the stance of both the partners who now appear keen to bury the hatchet. It remains to be seen who becomes the Chief Minister as Uddhav Thackeray is least likely to relinquish his demand at this stage. If not the CM’s post, the Sena — like the NCP in the former ruling combine — will bargain hard for key portfolios. The situation appears fluid since the NCP has already pledged support to a BJP government from outside, thus muddying the waters.

The Maharashtra elections have been instructive in many ways. In Haryana, the Hooda government’s large-scale corruption — its blatant favouritism of Robert Vadra in real estate deals being the most highlighted issue — virtually offered the BJP a landslide victory on a platter. Surprisingly, the NCP’s irrigation scams failed to yield that kind of impact in Maharashtra. Even the much talked about anti-incumbency wave against the Congress-NCP combine somewhat petered out on the day of polling. Despite lack of support from the Congress’s central leadership and heavy defections of leaders from both the Congress and the NCP camps to the BJP, both the parties were far from being wiped out as was predicted in the exit polls. If anything, the so-called secular parties have recuperated from the Lok Sabha drubbing. Compared to their performance in the general elections, the Congress’s 42 seats show moderate gains, while the NCP’s 41 tally is a face-saver of sorts for a scam-tainted party. Though their combined number of seats in the new assembly is still far short of what the BJP secured on its own steam, it was premature on the part of the political pundits to write-off the parties in the euphoria of the Modi wave. Instead of promoting a personality cult, it would be prudent to ascribe the BJP’s victory to the hard work of the rank-and-file. 

The BJP’s parliamentary board meeting later on Sunday evening proved to be inconclusive. The board has decided to first choose a Chief Minister and then work towards government formation. Political circles abuzz with speculations of a BJP government accepting outside support of the NCP have realised that the party’s top rung is in no hurry to rush into an alliance. 
The BJP has left an enduring impact all over the state, and now it can only hope to grow by bringing in development and good governance that Maharashtra has been denied for several years.