For many in the BJP, the commanding victory in Maharashtra is the capstone of its organisational strength and governance record, restoring the sheen the party appeared to have lost when it dropped seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

For the ruling party, there are a few major takeaways from this win. The new Mahayuti government is now expected to embolden Prime Minister Narendra Modi to push his pet reform ideas such as “One Nation One Election”, with the Assembly election results also fortifying the importance of women voters and women-centric welfare schemes to the party’s electoral fortunes. In both Maharashtra and Jharkhand, and several other states in the recent past, women and welfare schemes tailored for them have proved to be game-changers.

The victories in Haryana in October and Maharashtra will also embolden the BJP’s core Hindutva agenda as the slogans such as “batenge toh katenge (divided we fall)” and “ek hain toh safe hain (together, we are safe)” — juxtaposing them against concerns about alleged Muslim consolidation and the Congress’s alleged plot to give away reservation benefits to the minority community — appear to have gained traction among voters.

BJP leaders said the alliance “led in all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra”, months after finishing a distant second behind the Opposition in the Lok Sabha elections, despite the intense efforts of the Opposition to consolidate “Muslim votes”. The slogans, which the BJP’s critics targeted for being divisive and polarising, played a significant role in “consolidating the Hindu votes”, party leaders said.

In his victory speech, PM Modi hailed the Maharashtra verdict as an endorsement of his “ek hain toh safe hain” pitch and a defeat of “those who sought to divide along caste, religion, language, and regional” lines. The message was clear: not only that these slogans will increasingly find space in the next state elections, but that the party will not keep aside its core ideological agenda. The overwhelming mandate for the BJP alone (it won 132 seats, at a strike rate of almost 90%) indicates that the party may now have an upper hand when it comes to dealing with its allies to pursue its top agenda such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, the Uniform Civil Code, and “One Nation One Election”.

The win for the Mahayuti in Maharashtra and for the INDIA bloc in Jharkhand have also underscored the importance of welfare schemes no matter the framing of the debate around them. These revdis, as PM Modi calls them when targeting the Opposition’s welfare promises, have become crucial short-term measures for incumbent governments at a time when unemployment and inflation continue to be big problems. Instead of long-term investments that can create job opportunities, for parties and governments, it appears more politically expedient to hand out cash doles.

For strategists, there is always the example of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu to argue against long-term planning. In his first two terms, Naidu earned the sobriquet of CEO CM with his corporate style with a long-term approach to public expenditure. But out of power since 2019, and facing a make-or-break election, he returned as CM earlier this year propelled by promises such as cash payments for unemployed youth, free travel for women in public transport, and a free LPG cylinders scheme that was estimated to cost the already burdened exchequer Rs 60,000 crore.

This time, it was the Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana that proved to be the game-changer in Maharashtra while in Jharkhand it was the Maiya Samman Yojana of the Hemant Soren government. The rise in turnout of women voters — from 59.2% to 65.21% in Maharashtra and in Jharkhand women voters outnumbered men in 85% of the seats — indicates the important role that women played.

Unlike in the past, women now appear to make voting decisions independently. In Jharkhand, The Indian Express found that women, including tribals, were particular about the fact that they would not go by the decisions or diktats of the men in their families. According to BJP strategists, the Madhya Pradesh elections threw a surprise and defied all predictions because “both the exit polls and poll pundits ignored the women power while the BJP worked on silent women voters”.

For the Opposition INDIA bloc, the stakes were higher in these two state elections as only an impressive performance in both Jharkhand and Maharashtra would have helped it sustain some of the upbeat mood the Lok Sabha polls had generated. However, just a win in Jharkhand may not give it, especially the Congress, the much-needed push as it is being seen as an achievement of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Neither the Congress nor Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi played a key role in the campaign there.

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Have been in journalism covering national politics for 23 years. Have covered six consecutive Lok Sabha elections and assembly polls in almost all the states. Currently writes on ruling BJP. Always loves to understand what's cooking in the national politics (And ventures into the act only in kitchen at home).  ... Read More