Encouraged by the unexpected success in the Haryana Assembly elections, BJP has now started making elaborate preparations for Jharkhand and Maharashtra. The party is confident that it will once again form a coalition government in Maharashtra, while in Jharkhand it will be successful in snatching power from the opposition. The BJP alliance is in power in Maharashtra, hence the party can cut the tickets of about 30 percent of its sitting MLAs there, whereas in Jharkhand this number is likely to be around 25 percent.
One name decided on half the seats
The BJP leadership has recently completed the first round of brainstorming regarding candidates from Jharkhand, in which the panel has been reduced to three names on all the seats. One name has been decided on almost half the seats, while two and three names have been kept on the remaining seats. The party will once again consider all these names before going to the Central Election Committee. In Maharashtra, BJP is trying to finalize the seat sharing with its allies.
Senior BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah has held a round of talks with the leaders of all the parties and soon he will reach an agreement with the leaders of the allies on the distribution of seats. At present, the party leaders of the state are talking to each other and presenting the mathematics of each seat to each other and are claiming with facts that which seat should be given to whom. Election in-charge Bhupendra Yadav is playing an important role in this.
BJP can contest elections on 170 seats in Maharashtra
In Maharashtra, BJP can contest maximum seats on about 170 seats, while Shiv Sena (Shinde) will be given seats at second place and NCP (Ajit Pawar) at third place. According to sources, there is dispute only on about 10 to 20 seats and a broad consensus has been reached on the remaining seats. The seats they currently hold are likely to remain with them, while the three parties have different claims regarding the lost seats. Tickets of some sitting MLAs will be cut, while the party will give a chance to new faces in place of many leaders who contested last time.
Haryana’s victory boosted morale
Due to the BJP alliance being in power in the state, anti-incumbency atmosphere may also remain at some places, however, the victory in Haryana has given new morale to the party and it will be more attacking on the opposition alliance. The party’s biggest concern is about the Maratha community. Where the Maratha reservation movement is gaining momentum, it may suffer losses in many seats. This movement also had a major contribution in the success of Sharad Pawar led NCP in the Lok Sabha elections. Now this movement will become a headache for BJP in the assembly elections also. In such a situation, BJP is making more preparations for other areas which include Vidarbha, Western Maharashtra, Konkan and Khandesh region.
