Post-Lok Sabha results, how BJP went about winning Maharashtra seats with large Muslim numbers

The Congress, connected the different hand, went down successful these seats from 11 5 years agone to lone 5 this time.

BJP leaders accidental that to guarantee that its ain enactment basal rallied down it, to antagonistic the coming unneurotic of the number vote, the enactment tapped into the extended Sangh Parivar web – a conjugation of implicit 30 organisations affiliated with the RSS – and employed a blend of governmental messaging, spiritual rhetoric, and strategical outreach.

Sources accidental that this was wherefore 1 of the astir salient BJP slogans this clip was “Ek hain toh harmless hain”, repeated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi successful his triumph code Saturday evening. The Opposition protested astatine its “communal” overtone – peculiarly arsenic it came successful the aftermath of the much inflammatory “Batenge toh katenge” slogan of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath – but the BJP ne'er eased its accent connected the request for “unity” to stay “safe”. Who needed to stay agreed oregon whitethorn extremity up unsafe was kept deliberately vague.

A Lok Sabha spot with precocious Muslim numbers wherever the BJP efforts worked a turnaround this clip is Dhule. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won the Dhule spot by a immense borderline of 2 lakh-plus votes. But successful this year’s wide elections, the BJP mislaid the spot by a constrictive borderline of 3,800 votes to the Congress.

At a rally successful Kolhapur successful September, BJP person Devendra Fadnavis cited Dhule to rise the alarm implicit “vote jihad”, suggesting a systematic consolidation of Muslim votes. He specifically talked of the Muslim-majority Malegaon Central Assembly conception successful the Dhule Lok Sabha seat, noting that the BJP had got lone 4,542 votes here.

In these Assembly elections, portion the AIMIM mislaid the Dhule Assembly spot that it had won successful 2019, the lone constituency it won was Malegaon Central, but by conscionable 162 votes, the narrowest borderline of the polls. In 2019, the AIMIM winning borderline present was astir 40,000 votes.

Similarly, Union Home Minister Amit Shah personally held a rally successful the Malkapur Assembly seat, wherever 20% of the colonisation is Muslim, accusing the Congress of “conspiring” to springiness Muslims reservations. A BJP stronghold, Malkapur was breached by the Congress successful 2019, which won it by much than 10,000 votes. But this clip the BJP wrested it backmost by much than 20,000 votes.

What besides helped the BJP physique a communicative of Muslim consolidation were efforts from wrong the number assemblage to ballot arsenic a radical to support the BJP out, including appeals by Muslim clerics. This meant that, successful galore cases, Muslims adjacent voted for the Shiv Sena (UBT) which is aligned with the Congress, though the Sena had been anathema to them before. During the caller Assembly canvass campaign, the BJP projected these appeals by clerics arsenic “fatwa”.

A BJP idiosyncratic from Nashik said: “After the Lok Sabha elections, we realised the value of reaching retired to our ain voters, informing them of the dangers posed by ballot part among them.”

Giving a hint of however this was done, Fadnavis said successful his winning code Saturday: “There was an effort to polarise a peculiar community. However, that effort was not successful. This authorities has a past of spiritual figures. These figures went location to house, colony to village, calling for unity successful the look of this narrative.”

The enactment besides utilized societal media to marque its case, specified arsenic sharing videos connected WhatsApp.

Strategic campaigner enactment was the different origin successful the BJP’s improved show successful seats with precocious Muslim numbers. In astir of these constituencies, the enactment picked candidates with a beardown Hindutva voice, including Chainsukh Sanketi successful Malkapur and Anup Agarwal successful Dhule City, to guarantee its supporters stayed down it.

There were immoderate seats wherever the BJP’s readying missed by inches, specified arsenic Akola West and Versova. While the Congress’s Sajid Khan Pathan won Akola West by 1,283 votes, the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Haroon Khan won Versova by 1,600 votes to go his party’s lone Muslim MLA.

Of the Muslim clerics whose appeals whitethorn person ended up moving successful the BJP’s favour were salient ones specified arsenic Maulana Khalil-ur-Rahman Sajjad Nomani. He asked the assemblage to enactment the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) confederation for “a secular and inclusive government”, and to rally unneurotic successful the look of, what helium called, the existential situation posed by the BJP.

Little-known Muslim organisations excessively lent their dependable during the campaign, specified arsenic the Aurangabad-based All India Ulama Board Maharashtra, which advocated 10% reservations for Muslims successful acquisition and jobs and called for a prohibition connected the RSS.

The BJP brought up each these to supplement its “vote jihad” narrative.

Some salient voices successful the Muslim assemblage present wonderment if the progressive canvassing against the BJP whitethorn person boomeranged. One of them who was intimately progressive successful the MVA run and did not privation to beryllium identified said: “We could person approached this successful a much understated way, similar the RSS does. This mistake has outgo america dearly.”