The BJP has its script ready. The Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana will be dominated by the ruling party hard-selling the achievements of its governments in the states, combined with the bold decisions of the Narendra Modi government, particularly the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Even the landmark tax reform—cutting of corporate tax—announced on Friday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is expected to provide a salutary effect, for the time-being, to people facing the brunt of the economic slowdown. Mumbai's Dalal Street had wildly cheered the finance ministry's move. The two states will hold elections during the festive season. The polling will be held on October 21, and results will come out on October 24, three days before Diwali.
The elections to these two states are significant for the BJP as the party had formed governments there on its own for the first time in 2014, a few months after Narendra Modi had swept the Lok Sabha polls. These were also the first elections held directly under the watch of the then new BJP chief Amit Shah.
Modi-Shah picked two new faces as chief ministers—Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin, in Maratha-dominated Maharashtra and M.L. Khattar, a Punjabi, in the Jat-dominated politics of Haryana.
“The people have to decide if they want to vote for those who removed [Article] 370 or those who are in favour of it,” Shah had said during a recent rally.
Modi, during his rally in Maharashtra on September 19, had also talked about the decision to “integrate” Kashmir into India and the way the Indian armed forces have been strengthened. Modi cited the work done by his government in 100 days.
Working in the BJP's favour is the depleted opposition in both Haryana and Maharashtra. Several Congress and NCP leaders have joined the BJP in Maharashtra. The situation is similar in Haryana, where the saffron party has gained from the feud in the INLD, led by the Chautala clan.
These elections are being held when Sonia Gandhi has taken the reigns of the Congress party again. The Congress is focusing on the failures of the BJP governments including the economic slowdown, job losses and farmer distress.
The Congress had successfully cashed in on electorate angst in the three states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan late last year to dislodge the BJP governments there. However, the grand old party may find it tough to take on the BJP's aggressive campaigning immediately after the completion of the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP had won all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana, and 41 out of 48 seats in Maharashtra, along with the Shiv Sena.
The single-phase elections in these two states are touted as being a referendum on the Modi government more than a test of the popularity of the local governments.
