Maharashtra local polls: Once a party with an urban base, BJP gains ground in rural parts as well now

PUNE: Union home minister and senior BJP member Amit Shah's instructions to party workers to ensure a victory from the Parliament to the panchayats is a target being taken quite seriously by the Maharashtra cadre.

Once considered a party with an urban base, BJP has seemingly managed to expand its network into rural areas by winning comprehensively in municipal council and nagar panchayat polls.




During Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, the focus tends to be on a party's biggest names, while civic body elections are typically navigated by local units and grassroots workers. But flipping the script this time, Mahayuti partners — BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP — are treating civic elections on par with assembly elections.

For this time's campaign, the senior leadership of these parties travelled the length and breadth of Maharashtra. In fact, the use of helicopters for travelling from one district to another and addressing multiple rallies was akin to the state polls.

Finally, when results for 288 civic bodies were announced on Sunday, the efforts paid off for BJP, which managed to win the president's post in more than 120 civic bodies. This made it the party with the largest base in local bodies, even in rural areas of the state.

The BJP top brass also admitted that this win was its biggest ever for civic bodies. State cabinet minister and senior BJP functionary Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, "This victory is quite big for the party. BJP has not seen such a massive victory in this sphere before this. It shows that along with Viksit Bharat and Viksit Maharashtra, people also want Viksit municipal councils. For that, they have shown trust in our party."

In the political landscape of Maharashtra, the Congress party originally dominated rural areas. Following the formation of the NCP in 1999, Sharad Pawar pulled some mass leaders to his side, predominantly influential in the cooperative sector. Through them, Pawar's party gained ground in rural Maharashtra alongside Congress. But BJP, allied with Shiv Sena, largely remained focused on urban areas. However, as the party grew both at the Centre and the state, it also spread its wings in rural pockets.

According to political observers, BJP pressed hard into the rural base of the weakening Congress. Political analyst Parimal Maya Sudhakar told TOI, "Earlier, BJP's concentration in rural areas was limited only to Vidarbha, but after sensing that Congress was getting weak, it seized the opportunity to penetrate rural pockets in other regions as well. Particularly in these elections, the opposition looked disoriented, but on the other side, the BJP took deliberate efforts to ensure that the party gains ground in the rural sector."

Before the start of the civic polls, Amit Shah, on a visit to Mumbai, made a statement that the BJP does not require crutches in Maharashtra. This gains importance against the backdrop of the civic body poll results.

Political observers feel that BJP is also working towards 2029, where the party hopes to contest polls without depending on other parties.

"There is no doubt that the party's goal is 2029, for which it is trying to show its presence in every section. Politicians from the opposition are also joining BJP as they are aware that for four years, there will not be a change in the govt, and they do not want to be in opposition for that long period of time, which is also helping the party to increase its base in the rural parts," Parimal added.

The victory in the first phase of local body polls will help BJP and other partners of Mahayuti take the momentum to the municipal corporation polls, scheduled for Jan 15.

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