Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections: BJP slips to just 9 seats in crucial state

Unlike in several other states where the party’s vote share went up irrespective of seat loss, in Maharashtra the party’s vote share dipped by one per cent

Just when it seemed that the central pole of Maharashtra politics had shifted to the BJP—the party had won 23 seats in 2014 and 2019-- the results of 2024 have come to prove the pundits wrong.

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during a roadshow, for Lok Sabha polls, in Mumbai, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)(PTI05_15_2024_000236B)(PTI)

The BJP which had publicly announced Mission 45 for Maharashtra is down to 10 seats. It had contested 28 seats as part of the alliance with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP. Worse, unlike in several other states where the party’s vote share went up irrespective of seat loss, in Maharashtra the party’s vote share dipped by one per cent from 27.84 per cent to 26.45 per cent. The loss of ten seats will be significant in the assembly elections slated later this year. For the last ten years the BJP has been the single-largest party in Maharashtra assembly. Party insiders believe that Tuesday’s results will lead to a churn in the party’s state organisation.

“Barring MVA’s two and half years, we have been in the power at state level and in the local bodies. If the Lok Sabha trend continues, it could cause major damage to us in the assembly and local bodies polls later this year. We fear that our traditional OBC voter has slid away from us owing to the government’s decision to favour the Marathas in the quota battle. Farmers too are unhappy with our policies and it could cost us dear if the corrective steps are not taken immediately,” said a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity.

In Vidarbha, the party contested seven seats but won two while in western Maharashtra it contested seven and won two seats in Pune and Satara, losing Sangli, Solapur, Madha and Ahmednagar.

A section of the party leadership believes that the BJP took a hit because the Maratha quota stir was not tactfully handled by CM Shinde who batted for reservation for Marathas under the Kunbi fold. In Marathwada, the party lost 3 of the four seats it contested while its fourth candidate, Pankaja Munde was in a neck and neck battle with her competitor from NCP (SP) at the time of going to print.

“Our major loss in Marathwada is owing to the unrest among the Marathas against BJP and our leader Devendra Fadnavis. We do not believe it is because of the split engineered in two regional parties,” added another state BJP leader. Factionalism in the state unit is also one of the reasons being offered for poor performance. “The state leadership wanted to change some of the sitting MPs but the central leadership put its foot down and renominated them,” he said.

Following the split with the Shiv Sena in 2019, the BJP had announced a Mission 45 in Maharashtra, aiming to win 45 of the state’s 48 constituencies and made union ministers incharge of overseeing 16 of these constituencies including Maval, Hatkanangale, Raigad and Baramati. Most of the 16 seats were later allocated to the Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.

“We have lost a few seats in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and were expecting more seats in West Bengal. Nonetheless, the people of the country have shown confidence in the leadership of PM Modiji and have mandated his third term. In Maharashtra, the ruling alliance of BJP, NCP and Shiv Sena fought unitedly, and will continue to do so,” deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said in his post on X.