 "How PM Modi’s ‘ek hain toh safe hain’ slogan scripted BJP’s comeback in Maharashtra")
The Mahayuti is returning to power in Maharashtra with a landslide victory, as the alliance is ahead in 229 of the 288 Assembly seats. Its main rival, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has managed to lead in just 46 seats, as per the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) trends at 5.20 pm on Saturday (November 23).
Mahayuti’s emphatic victory is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which itself has crossed the century mark, winning 52 seats and leading in 81 others. Its allies, the Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), have also delivered an impressive performance.
The BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, who is seen as a frontrunner for the Maharashtra chief minister post, has credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his slogan “ek hain toh safe hain (together we are safe)” for the Mahayuti’s resounding win.
Let’s take a look.
BJP’s clarion call of ‘ek hain toh safe hain’
The BJP pushed its hardline Hindutva with slogans like “ek hain toh safe hain (together we are safe)” and “batenge toh katenge (divided we fall)” during the election campaigning in Maharashtra.
PM Modi first used the “ek hain toh safe hain” slogan on November 8, which was later picked up by other BJP leaders in the state.
#ResultswithNews18 | People of Maharashtra have given us an unprecedented victory. This shows that people are with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In line with the slogan he gave 'Ek hain toh safe hain': Devendra Fadnavis#MaharashtraElection2024 #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/nil2z7zltg
— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 23, 2024
In a sharp attack on the Congress, the PM accused the party of creating a rift between castes and tribes. Addressing a rally in Dhule in north Maharashtra, Modi had said, “Dividing castes and tribes is the biggest conspiracy against India.”
He went on to accuse former Congress Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi of implementing “anti-reservation policies”.
Urging people to stay “united”, Modi said, “Rajiv Gandhi opposed Other Backward Class
(OBC) reservation. Now, they are dividing the castes within OBCs and various tribes in tribal communities. We need to maintain unity, so remember, “Ek hain toh safe hain.’”
At another rally in Akola, the PM reiterated the “Hindu unity” pitch, saying, “People of Haryana foiled the conspiracy of Congress by following the ‘Ek hai toh safe hai’ mantra….The Congress knows that it will be strengthened only if the country is weakened.”
The BJP’s pitch was a counter to the Grand Old Party’s narrative that the saffron party posed a threat to the Constitution and reservation, something that worked for the INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha polls. These slogans were the saffron party’s response to the Congress campaign for a caste census.
The Congress had opposed the slogan, accusing the BJP of indulging in communal politics.
PM Modi’s pitch was preceded by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s “batenge toh katenge” slogan, which caused divisions within the BJP as well as Mahayuti.
‘Ek hain toh safe hain’ works for Mahayuti
Fadnavis’ first reaction to the BJP and Mahayuti’s decisive victory was ‘ek hain toh safe hain’. In a post on X, he wrote in Hindi, “Ek Hain toh Safe hain, ‘Modi hain toh Mumkin hain (We are safe if we are united, anything is possible if there’s Modi)."
एक है तो ‘सेफ’ है !
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) November 23, 2024
मोदी है तो मुमकिन हैं ! #Maharashtra #महाराष्ट्र
The BJP’s “Hindu unity” pitch seems to have resonated with its core voters. The saffron party could have suffered due to the Maratha anger but its social engineering efforts saved the day. As per Indian Express, the Marathas, who were upset with the BJP over its failure to give reservations to the community, were likely to vote against the party, which would have benefited Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
The BJP countered the Maratha anger by wooing OBC voters. Union minister Bhupendra Yadav, who was in charge of the Maharashtra polls, “meticulously planned and executed the OBC connect with BJP region-wise,” along with the state leaders, as per the newspaper report.
OBCs, which comprise 38 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, play a dominant role electorally in 175 of the 288 seats. “The micro-management of OBCs was a key factor that worked at the grounds in favour of Mahayuti,” the Indian Express article noted.
Besides the caste factor, the Eknath Shinde -led government’s Ladki Bahin Yojana, under which it provided cash to the state’s poor women, and the saffron party’s resolving differences with the RSS, which extensively campaigned for the BJP, also worked in favour of Mahayuti’s spectacular comeback.
With inputs from agencies
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