The election season ends and we have a clear verdict out loud with the Mahayuti Alliance sweeping victory in the polls. People have made their choice. It’s safe to say the BJP, struggling to cross the 300 mark a few months back, has made a comeback.
How did this happen is very interesting to look at-:
It is important to note during the Lok Sabha the BJP was cut short in size but its strength was still intact and did have a strong hold over the political Discourse following factors could be the reason for BJP reclaiming Maharashtra after two splits in two major parties of the state while most of the analyst thought anti-incumbency and spilt could play their parts in the state elections well clearly they were proven wrong. According to many it was the ladki bahini scheme had a major role to play in the victory while that might be a case there are other factors too.
The Prime Minister’s Role
The nuanced transformation of the Prime Minister’s Role in this electorate was a result of the fallout of the Lok Sabha elections. The strategy was to project the PM as the brand and protect him from failures. In other words, victory will always be attributed to him but not defeats. This is a different Modi from 2014 but voters would still have thought of Modi while making their choice.
The DBT Schemes
The DBT Schemes launched by both alliances in the state this was done of course after the success of ladli bahena in MP by Shivraj Chouhan’s Government followed by the counterparts but this has always been the case such schemes always help the parties we have seen this since NREGA but it’s important to understand that a scheme or two can’t decide the future it’s always the narrative- that the party is more than its said ideology and is all for economy and governance conveniently convincing people at the same time downplaying the effect freebies have on the economy.
That’s why you had more women voters this year than men clad in their sarees clearly showing how the idea works. It’s impressive how after the fallout the BJP was back in the game in no time never showing signs of complacency, working on the ground to bounce back.
The Caste Card
Another “masterstroke” was to cleverly manage the caste based conflict. From having OBC Leaders to counter the brahmins and meeting with every faction under its radar to finally placing the trump card-communalism with slogans of ‘divided we fall” in the discourse.
As you sow so shall you reap
Lastly, the falling price of crops, onions, soybean, cotton in the Vidarbha Marathwada region but the opposition failed to grab the opportunity so much so that even the distress class didn’t stand by the opposition. To sum up Charisma, Caste, Communalism, Crops have won the BJP a victory.
