After Big Set Back In Lok Sabha Election, BJP Gears Up For Assembly Polls In Maharashtra

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha election result is an eye owner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a party failed to secure a majority in Parliament. The Saffron party experienced a big setback in Maharashtra as its tally decreased from 23 seats to nine. 

Maharashtra is going to the polls later this year and it is an alarm bell for BJP to identify their challenges and put in strategies. The state BJP has called for a gathering of its district unit presidents and office-bearers in Mumbai on June 14. Party state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar and others are going to be a part of this meeting, Indian Express reported. 

The biggest challenge for the part is a resurgence of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who began a hunger strike in his Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna district and demanded a separate quota for his community and opposed the state government's legislation of grating 10 per cent reservation to Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category for employment and education.

“A section within the party believes that there is no reason to go on backfoot and that the party should take the credit for giving Marathas reservation twice, in 2018 and 2024,” said a BJP leader, Indian Express reported. 

Addressing the  Maratha quota issue, Fadnavis said that they were contesting the battle against three parties: Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT) under the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). Later he added, "There was a fourth party that was aggressively campaigning on the reservation. We either failed to effectively counter their campaign or overlooked it.”