BJP assigns 16 ministers to handle Maha constituencies

Weeks after announcing ‘Mission 45’, the BJP has finalised a plan for 16 constituencies in the state which it has not won – or contested in -- in previous general elections

Mumbai Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union minister of state (MoS) for home affairs Ajay Mishra, MoS food processing industries and Jal Shakti Prahlad Patel and MoS Jal Shakti and tribal affairs Bishweswar Tudu have been assigned four constituencies in Maharashtra by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership as part its target to win 45 Lok Sabha seats in the state in the 2024 parliamentary elections.

While Sitharaman is in-charge of Baramati, Mishra, Patel and Tudu have been given the responsibility of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shirdi-Raigad, and Palghar respectively (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Weeks after announcing ‘Mission 45’, the BJP has finalised a plan for 16 constituencies in the state which it has not won – or contested in -- in previous general elections. A Union minister or MoS has been assigned to each of the constituencies, and they have been asked to make at least six visits, spanning three days, over the next 20 months. They have been asked to undertake an outreach programme on political, organizational and administrative fronts.

While Sitharaman is in-charge of Baramati, Mishra, Patel and Tudu have been given the responsibility of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Shirdi-Raigad, and Palghar respectively. Sitharaman is expected to visit Baramati, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) bastion that has never been won by the BJP. Mishra and Patel toured these constituencies two weeks ago.

Sunil Karjatkar, BJP’s vice president who is part of the Mission 45 strategy said, “Two of the Union ministers deputed on the Mission have already visited their respective constituencies. Each will stay in the constituencies for three days and meet elected representatives from gram panchayats, district councils, address party officer bearers and workers and also take review the implementation of the central schemes among other meetings on schedule.”

Similarly, BJP legislators from the state have also been asked to undertake outreach programmes in these constituencies. MLAs Ashish Shelar, Ram Shinde, Madhuri Misal, Rahul Aher, Prashant Thakur, Gopichand Padalkar have been given the responsibility of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Baramati, Shirur, Shirdi, Maval and Hatkanangale, respectively.

The 16 constituencies have been made into four region-wise clusters for easy coordination, and to ensure that the ministers can address local problems that change across the various regions of the state.

“Some of them, like Baramati are very difficult for us to win but not impossible, while some like Chandrapur are comparatively easier. We have set the target of replicating Amethi in Baramati by defeating Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule like Rahul Gandhi was defeated in Amethi. In given political scenario we do not see the task as being difficult. Similarly other western Maharashtra seats like Satara, Kolhapur, Hatkanangale can be conquered with better strategy,” a senior party leader who did not want to be named, said.

On a tour of Baramati on Tuesday, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said it would not remain NCP’s stronghold for long. “We will give them an unprecedented fight. The strongholds keep changing with changing times. People will back prime minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda in Baramati too.”

Eight of these constituencies are represented by Shiv Sena MPs who have sided with chief minister Eknath Shinde. The BJP is expected to fight the LS polls in alliance with Shinde (it is currently in power with Shinde’s faction of Sena in the state). “Some of the seats will go to Shinde’s camp, some will come to us, while in a few constituencies we will sponsor the candidates like we did in constituencies like Palghar when we were in alliance with Shiv Sena,” the leader quoted above said.

After contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with Shiv Sena in 2019, the BJP won 23 seats while Sena won 18. Of the 18 Sena MPs, 12 defected to Shinde camp after a vertical split in the party in June this year.