BJP to concentrate on Mumbai metropolitan region for assembly polls

The core committee reviewed the constituencies where the Mahayuti alliance candidates trailed in the Lok Sabha elections and discussed measures to improve its performance during the state elections

Mumbai: After its debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to concentrate on the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in the assembly polls. The party feels winning a majority of the 60 seats in MMR would help it make up for potential losses in other regions in the 288-seat state assembly.

Mumbai, India - June 13, 2024: Kiran Shelar has announced BJP's candidate for the Maharashtra Legislative Council elections to be held on June 26. Devendra Fadnavis, Ashish Shelar and other leaders gathered at Rangsharada for the Vijay Sankalp Mela. in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The BJP’s two in-charges for the Maharashtra assembly polls, Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw, appointed after the party managed to win just nine of the 48 seats in the state, held a series of review meetings in Mumbai with the state leadership. They also held a meeting with the Mumbai BJP’s core committee, comprising the likes of Ashish Shelar, Ameet Satam and Manisha Chaudhary, to discuss the road map for the city. The core committee reviewed the constituencies where the Mahayuti alliance candidates trailed in the Lok Sabha elections and discussed measures to improve its performance during the state elections.

“There are over 60 seats in MMR, and the BJP has 26 MLAs in this region. We have fared well in the Lok Sabha election in this part and can retain our clout in the assembly elections, too. The BJP dominates the urban electorate, and we can score better [in MMR] for this reason. We have discussed this during our meeting of the core committee of the Mumbai unit last week,” said one of the party’s Mumbai leaders. Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in MMR, the Mahayuti alliance won six, with the rest going to the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. MMR is the only region in the state where the ruling coalition won more seats than the opposition alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP holds 16 of the 36 assembly seats in Mumbai and the party was trailing in only three of them in the Lok Sabha elections. In Maharashtra, 48 of 103 BJP MLAs were trailing. “Considering our position in Marathwada, Vidarbha and western Maharashtra, the most favourable region for us is the MMR,” the leader added.

“We discussed the seats that can be wrested from the opposition with a little effort. For instance, Bhandup, Vikhroli, Chembur, and Anushakti Nagar in the eastern Suburbs; Byculla and Worli in south and central Mumbai; and Dindoshi and Andheri East in the western suburbs, where we have decided to concentrate. There would not be any problem in the seat-sharing with Shiv Sena as most of the seats have our MLAs. Even in the rest of MMR, we have little room to increase the seats. The challenge would be to retain the seats we hold,” said a Mumbai MLA.

According to another leader who attended the meeting, the BJP leadership asked the Mumbai leaders to personally connect with Muslims and Dalits, who are believed to have voted for the MVA in the Lok Sabha elections. “The fully Muslim-dominated constituencies like Mumbadevi, Shivaji Nagar, and Malad West cannot be pocketed, but the ones like Byculla where Hindus are in equal number could be won with a little effort. Diversion of Muslim voters at least to some extent and the consolidation of the Hindu votes could help in winning these seats,” said a leader privy to the developments.

The party has also decided to strengthen its booth-level mechanism and augment its outreach programme through it. The party leadership in the city has also been asked to ensure that the newly announced populist schemes by the government in the state budget are aggressively advertised to the voters.