Despite Maratha anger, BJP sweeps Jalgaon, Sangli polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party has succeeded in pocketing Jalgaon and Sangli municipal corporations in Maharashtra. While the result in Jalgaon municipal corporation is not surprising, the saffron party's victory in Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad municipal poll is being viewed as a solid blow to the alliance of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. 

Jalgaon municipal corporation was controlled by BJP's Sureshdada Jain for over three decades. The party won 57 out of 75 seats in Jalgaon and wrested the control of the municipal body. Shiv Sena succeeded in winning 15 seats while the remaining three seats were won by independents and others. The architect of BJP's victory in Jalgaon is irrigation minister Girish Mahajan. 

In Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad corporation, the BJP won 40 out of 78 seats to cross the halfway mark. The Congress-NCP alliance has won 35 seats. BJP's tally rose from four in the previous election to 40 this time as it wrested the control of the municipal body from the Congress. Interestingly, Sangli is the home turf of NCP's state president and former Maharashtra finance minister Jayant Patil. BJP's victory in Sangli is a blow to both Patil and his party. It is also a serious setback to Congress heavyweights like Vishwajeet Kadam and Satej Patil as the region has traditionally supported Congress ideology. 

The election results clearly signify that the unrest among Maratha community on the issue of reservation did not impact the BJP despite the strong presence of Maratha community in both municipal corporations. It also points out to the fact that if at all Maratha agitation has achieved anything, it is the unity of all non-Maratha forces who appear to have backed the BJP. 

What worked in BJP's favour was also the increase in the price of milk announced by the state government. The farmer community in Western Maharashtra was satisfied after the government's announcement. Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad has a sizable presence of farming community for whom dairy farming is an important source of livelihood. Interestingly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was not allowed to visit Sangli by Maratha Kranti Morcha activists. The Morcha had threatened to disrupt his rally and hence Fadnavis had to send a seven minute video of his speech for the campaigning. 

BJP legislator Sudhir Gadgil told THE WEEK that the development of Sangli had come to a stop altogether during the Congress rule in the municipal corporation in the last 20 years. "People were fed up. What also helped was the work that Suresh Khade and I carried out as local legislators. That is why no agitation had any impact. The only issue was the development of Sangli-Miraj-Kupwad and people showed that they have faith in the BJP," he said.