Mumbai: The BJP-Shiv Sena combine, which had set a target of winning 45 out of 48 Maharashtra Lok Sabha seats in the just concluded general polls, was looking at severe anti-incumbency against at least 7-8 MPs of the former and a few from the Sena, a senior BJP functionary said on Sunday. The combine won 41 seats, comprising 23 to the BJP and 18 to the Sena, but saw some major setbacks, including the defeat of Union minister of state for home and senior BJP leader Hansraj Ahir in Chandrapur. The Shiv Sena’s Anant Geete, a minister of state in the Narendra Modi government, too lost the polls from Raigad.
“Ahir (from Chandrapur) and Ashok Nete from Gadchiroli-Chimur were two MPs from Vidarbha against whom internal surveys found strong anti-incumbency,” he said. “But a Union minister opposed the change and their names were finalised for the Lok Sabha polls,” the functionary went on to claim. “It is evident that despite division of votes (with the VBA cornering a large number of votes), Ahir could not be saved and we lost the seat (to Congress’ Suresh Dhanorkar). Otherwise, the Congress would have drawn a blank in Maharashtra,” he said.
Ahir had won Chandrapur Lok Sabha seat in 1996 and then consecutively three times in 2004, 2009 and 2014. When asked about the BJP’s high pitched campaign and its sizable network of workers, he said, “The image of the candidate also plays a role. The biggest challenge the BJP was facing was the lack of communication on the part of these leaders.” Chandrapur and Gadchiroli-Chimur also saw a large number of voters opting for NOTA (none of the above), which underscored the findings of the party’s surveys, the BJP leader said.
As per data from the Election Commission, Chandrapur reported 11,377 NOTA votes while the figure was 24,599 in Gadchiroli-Chimur. Commenting on Vanchit Bhaujan Aghadi’s vote-cutting act, a Nagpur based BJP leader said, “The VBA helped Nete win but could not save Ahir.” “Another factor that went against Ahir was the haphazard implementation of the liquor ban in Chandrapur. It left many people who were dependent on the trade in the lurch,” the leader said.
“Ahir is from Chandrapur, but he was trailing in all the four Assembly segments from his home district. He received a good lead from two Assembly segments which are part of neighbouring Yavatmal district,” the leader pointed out. According to party sources, the BJP’s top leadership also alerted ally Sena about some of its MPs facing anti-incumbency. Prominent among these seats were Amravati, Raigad, Aurangabad and Shirur as well. “We were surprised when the Sena changed only its MP from Osmanabad. The BJP replaced several sitting MPs and managed to retain those seats,” he claimed.
“These are the seats where the Sena lost. Baramati and Satara Lok Sabha constituencies (both won by the NCP) were the only two where we had little chance but we gave a good fight and one more seat was considered a surprise one,” the BJP leader said. He said it was these calculations, garnered from internal surveys, that had made the top leadership, including BJP chief Amit Shah, set a target of 45 seats for the saffron combine.
