In the changed political environment of Maharashtra, BJP has created a strong political chemistry with the party of Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar to defeat the trio of Congress, Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar. BJP was trying to win the Maharashtra elections with the slogan of CM Yogi ‘Bantege to Katenge’, it got the support of top party leaders and RSS. With this slogan, BJP is trying to maintain the electoral momentum in its favor, but not only NDA ally Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra but also Maharashtra BJP leaders are ‘divided’.
Yogi Adityanath’s slogan ‘Diya Bantenge to Katenge’ in reference to Bangladesh was a hit for BJP in Haryana elections. Along with the UP by-elections, the political atmosphere in Jharkhand and Maharashtra is also resonating. BJP is trying to unite the Hindus scattered among the castes by setting this narrative, but the BJP leaders and allies of Maharashtra are not liking it. Allies have distanced themselves from Yogi’s statement that if we divide, we will be divided.
If we divide we will be divided but there is a rift in NDA
While Ajit Pawar and Devendra Fadnavis have come face to face, the Eknath Shinde camp is also keeping itself away from it. Not only this, BJP leaders Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan have raised questions on ‘If we divide, we will cut.’ BJP’s ally JDU in Bihar has already distanced itself from it. In this way, the BJP led NDA seems to be completely divided on ‘Bantenge to Katenge’, because Ajit has described this slogan as different from the ideological heritage of Maharashtra.
NCP chief Ajit Pawar opposed CM Yogi’s slogan and said that Maharashtra never accepted communal division. People’s thinking is different in UP, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, but such statements do not work in Maharashtra. In my opinion, the use of such words does not matter in Maharashtra, because the people of Maharashtra have followed the secular ideology of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Our slogan is everyone’s support and everyone’s development. If anyone deviates from the ideology of Shahuji, Shivaji, Phule and Ambedkar, Maharashtra will not spare him.
Eknath Shinde was also seen joining Ajit Pawar’s voice and said that this kind of politics cannot happen in Maharashtra. Our party is going to the elections on the basis of the development work and public welfare schemes done in the last two and a half years. In democracy, we will vote unitedly and vote as much as possible. Shinde camp spokesperson Sushil Vyas says that they are with PM Modi’s slogan of Sabka Saath and Sabka Vikas.
BJP leaders also divided on ‘If you divide, you will be cut’
BJP has also divided over Yogi Adityanath’s slogan ‘If we divide, we will cut’. Devendra Fadnavis completely stands with the narrative of bante to katenge whereas Pankaja Munde and Ashok Chavan have different voices. BJP MP and former CM Ashok Chavan has said that the slogan of ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ is not right and the people of the state will not appreciate it. Personally speaking, I am not in favor of such slogans. He said that he does not give importance to rhetoric like ‘Vote Jihad vs Dharma Yudh’, because the policy of BJP and the ruling Mahayuti is the development of the country and Maharashtra.
Pankaja Munde, a veteran leader of Maharashtra BJP and considered the OBC face of the party, has also opposed the slogan ‘Bantenge to Katenge’. Pankaja says that she does not support this slogan and Maharashtra does not need this kind of politics. Pankaja Munde said, ‘To be honest, my politics are different. I will not support it just because I am from the same party, I believe that we should work on development and fight elections on the same issue. He said that the job of a leader is to make every living person on this land his own. Therefore, we do not need to bring such a topic in Maharashtra.
At the same time, senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that his party’s slogan ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ has been coined in response to the election campaign of Mahavikas Aghadi. Fadnavis raised questions on his party and ally Ajit, saying that his colleagues Ashok Chavan and Pankaja Munde as well as Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar failed to understand its basic meaning. Devendra Fadnavis has also said that for decades Ajit Pawar lived with ideologies which are secular and anti-Hindu. Having lived with such people for whom opposing Hindutva is secularism, Ajit will take some time to understand the mood of BJP and the public. These people either could not understand the public sentiment or could not understand the meaning of this statement.
Why does NDA seem divided?
Efforts are being made to become the Alexander of Maharashtra politics. On one hand, the BJP led Mahayuti is desperate to retain power, while on the other hand, the Congress led Maha Vikas Aghadi is trying hard to turn the tables. Cost politics has increased the political tension of BJP in Maharashtra. The Maratha reservation movement had given a blow to BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, due to which its seats have reduced from 21 to 8. In such a situation, BJP is running a strategy to counter cost politics through Yogi’s slogan ‘Bantenge to Katenge’.
Under this strategy, BJP is busy in setting the narrative of ‘Bantenge to Katenge’ to unite the Hindus of Maharashtra so that it is trying to turn the political atmosphere in its favor, but both Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde are not using this slogan. They are adopting divisive slogans because both the parties feel that due to this their Muslim voters will go away from them. From Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to Ajit Pawar, they do not want politics in Maharashtra to be based on the line of ‘if we divide, we will cut’.
Ashok Chavan joined BJP in February this year after being associated with Congress for a long time. After joining BJP, the party had given him a Rajya Sabha ticket and the party has given his daughter a ticket in the assembly elections. Ashok Chavan is considered a big leader of the Maratha community in Maharashtra and he also has his own political influence in Marathwada. Pankaja Munde is the daughter of veteran BJP leader Gopinath Munde and is considered the OBC face of the party in Maharashtra. Pankaja Munde has lost the Assembly elections in 2019 and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 and is now a member of the Legislative Council.
Political enmity between Pankaja and Fadnavis
The political enmity between Pankaja Munde and Devendra Fadnavis is well known. Pankaja had blamed Fadnavis for the defeat in 2019. In 2014, when BJP returned to power in Maharashtra, at that time Pankaja Munde was also considering herself in the race for CM, but the party had handed over the command of power to Devendra Fadnavis, who comes from the Brahmin community. Political enmity has been going on since then. Now in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP is planning to return to power with majority, then Fadnavis is being considered as the CM contender.
Political analysts believe that Maratha society does not want to agree with Devendra Fadnavis under any circumstances. In 2019, when an attempt was made to make Fadnavis the CM, Maratha leaders united. Due to the atmosphere being created for their candidature in this election, their allies, Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, are keeping themselves away from this politics under the pretext of ‘Batenge to Katenge’ slogan. Questions have been raised on the slogan of ‘Batenge to Katenge’. Not only this, BJP’s Maratha and OBC leaders have created a dilemma by raising questions.
