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div id=”pcl-full-content”>The Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to field Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as its star campaigner to impress upon the people about ‘good governance’ across Maharashtra. The party believes Fadnavis with his oratorial skills coupled with political acumen will be effective and make the impact ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
At the party’s internal meeting held this week, a decision has been taken to organise rallies by Fadnavis across 36 districts in the state. The Deputy CM will embark on Mission Maharashtra 45 plus from February. He will hold three rallies daily.
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Highly placed sources in the state BJP said, “Fadnavis will start extensive campaign from February next year. As per the plan, he will hold three rallies daily.”
Maharashtra with 48 Lok Sabha seats is crucial for BJP. After Uttar Pradesh with 80 seats, it is the second highest in terms of Lok Sabha seats.
State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Fadnavis is the leader and face in Maharashtra. And he is so excellent orator. The party is vying for 45 plus out of 48 seats.”
The central leadership of BJP has taken the decision to surpass its own record of 2019. The aim this time is for BJP to cross 400 seats.
A BJP functionary requesting anonymity said, “When the top leadership takes a decision, nobody questions. Once the decision is taken, it has to be implemented at any cost.” Therefore, state unit knows it cannot be complacent.
Fadnavis said, “People have full faith in PM Narendra Modi. They have already made up their mind on whom to vote.” The BJP workers have to ensure that people come out in large numbers to polling booths.
The Deputy CM believes every election should be contested with same alertness and seriousness. “There should be no scope for complacency. Our target is not to just win polls. But break the record by getting larger mandate,” he observed.
Fadnavis’s campaign is to ensure each Lok Sabha constituency, whether it is contested by BJP or alliance partners Shiv Sena (Shinde) or NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), gets covered. In every Lok Sabha constituency, there are six Assembly segments.
The former CM said, “The 2024 Lok Sabha polls are extremely important for Bharat. It is not about BJP only. We have to ensure Modi returns to power third term with mammoth mandate to lead country to greater heights.”
The BJP has taken the decision to contest the polls with allies Shiv Sena led by CM Eknath Shinde and NCP led by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The process of seat-sharing will begin from January 2024.
Earlier, at the party meeting held last week, Fadnavis told BJP workers, “Don’t worry about seat-sharing. The BJP will contest the seats as per your expectations.”
The political strategists involved in the seat-sharing process said, “Each party will retain the constituency it won during 2019 Lok Sabha polls.” Which means the BJP will retain all 23 seats it won. The Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) which has 13 MPs, will have upper hand in these seats. NCP led by Ajit Pawar has only one seat which it will retain. In the remaining eleven seats, based on individual party base and winnability of candidate, decisions will be taken. Also there is possibility of some give and take to accommodate NCP (Ajit faction).
The BJP insiders revealed it is unlikely to settle for less than 28 seats. In the remaining 20 seats, it will accommodate its allies Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and NCP (Ajit faction).
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