With the Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir Assembly elections done, the BJP has turned its attention to Maharashtra. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the state for the second time within a fortnight, making halts in the politically crucial regions of Vidarbha and Mumbai-Thane.
Like his September 20 visit, Modi will be unveiling mega infrastructure projects and pushing welfare schemes during his Saturday visit. The trip will include a tour of the Jagdamba Mata Temple, Poharadevi, in Washim, an important pilgrimage centre of the Banjara community, halts at samadhis of two local saints, and the inauguration of a ‘Banjara Virasat Museum’.
A nomadic tribe, the Banjaras number over a crore, constituting a sizeable vote bank in parts of Vidarbha, North Maharashtra and Marathwada regions.
The BJP’s push for the Banjara vote follows the erosion of support for it among the Dalits and Kunbis. While the Congress successfully wooed the Dalits in the Lok Sabha polls talking of a “threat to the Constitution”, the Kunbis are angry with the BJP-led Mahayuti government over the confusion on the Maratha quota issue.
The BJP is hoping that the two-pronged strategy of pushing a development agenda and balancing micro caste and community interests will help it in the polls.
Vidarbha accounts for 62 of the 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra. In 2014, the party had almost swept Vidarbha, winning 44 of its seats, on road to its Maharashtra win. In 2019, when the BJP could not get a simple majority, its tally was 29 in Vidarbha. Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah began its series of pre-poll Maharashtra election meetings with Vidarbha.
The BJP has also brought to Vidarbha a unit from Madhya Pradesh that successfully worked with former chief minister and current Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during the state polls, which saw the BJP return to power. Sources said they have held interactions with local leaders across 11 districts in Vidarbha and given their inputs to the central poll management team on drawing a segment-wise plan to reach out to people in the region, as well as to take populist schemes like Ladli Bahin Yojna to the people.
The projects which Modi will unveil in Vidarbha include initiatives related to the agricultural and animal husbandry sector, worth around Rs 23,300 crore. The PM will also disburse the 18th instalment of the PM-KISAN Samman Nidhi worth about Rs 20,000 crore to around 9.4 crore farmers, and the 5th instalment of NaMo Shetkari Mahasanman Nidhi Yojana amounting to about Rs 2,000 crore.
During his September visit, Modi had commemorated the first anniversary of ‘Vishwakarma Yojna’ in Vidarbha by handing over loan certificates to 18 beneficiaries in 18 different trades. He also inaugurated a PM MITRA Park for the textile sector.
Mumbai with 36 seats and Thane with 24 make up another 60 seats. The PM’s push here – on the back of significant infrastructure projects under the BJP government in 2014-19 – is significant as Eknath Shinde of the Shiv Sena considers the region its bastion.
On Saturday, Modi is to inaugurate other projects, including several involving the Mumbai Metro.
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