Post-demonetisation wins bring cheer to party
The mandate given to the ruling BJP in the recently concluded municipal polls in the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat shows the trust people have reposed in the party. Despite huge anti-Government campaigns by major opposition parties across the country, including these two States, on the issue of demonetisation, the party retained its continued hold over the municipal bodies in Gujarat, and doubled its tally in Maharashtra. The party's success in Maharashtra is significant from two perspectives: One, that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's attempt to clean up the system paid off substantially. Many political observers even thought that the reportedly forced resignation of Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse would seriously hurt the chances of the party's fortunes in the local body elections. Though Khadse was alleged to have been involved in multiple scams, considering his political weight, he could have been a serious challenge to a young politician like Fadnavis.
But the Chief Minister’s courage to fight for probity was received positively across the State. Besides surviving with an ally like Shiv Sena, which has never reconciled to the fact that it is a junior partner in the Government, and a party that launched severe attacks on the Centre and the State Government, Fadnavis's and the BJP’s win in the municipal and Nagar Panchayat elections is no mean political achievement. The Congress in the State should no more be under an illusion that it is capable of halting the victory march of the BJP in Maharashtra. In fact, the party came in second after the BJP in this poll, but its performance has been dismal. Even a senior party functionary in the State reportedly admitted that, “from 1,111 seats in 2011, we have come down to 643. It's time for self-introspection”. However, the BJP leadership in Maharashtra may review its crucial losses, like the one in Parli-Vaijnath, which falls under the constituency of State Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde.
When it comes to Gujarat, the party romped home to a significant victory, winning 109 seats of the 125 that it contested. Earlier, the party had only 64 seats. The Congress tally has fallen to just 17, when it had won 52 seats in the last local polls. It is a big win for the new Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. Also, this will provide his leadership a stamp of approval by the people of the State, after the resignation of then Chief Minister Anandiben Patel, amid the Patel-quota agitation led by Hardik Patel in the recent past. In a nutshell, both these elections have demonstrated that the effects of the post-Uri surgical strike across the line of Control and the demonetisation drive of the Government paid political dividends. Though both the elections were fought largely on local problems, yet the voters were influenced by these two crucial issues. There are those who say the victory can be treated as a mini-referendum on demonetisation. Whatever it may be, the BJP has reason to cheer for now.