BJP gets a head start ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls following Thackeray’s resignation

BJP is now in a position to hold power in the important states of Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2024 polls

Eknath Shinde’s rebellious political "coup" in Maharashtra has emerged as a boon for the Bharatiya Janata Party. The crumbling MVA alliance has helped the BJP to poise itself in a position of wielding power in the important states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The three states in total account for 168 seats in the Lower House.

BJP sources have told News18 that the party is all set with a “mega development plan” for Maharashtra which will involve the revival of pending infrastructure projects and a pan-India development model for the voters, stretching from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh.

Party sources made a reference to Uddhav Thackeray when they told the publication that the "coup" also served as a reminder of a fundamental BJP policy that opposes giving "back-stabbers" a second chance to make reparations and instead pushes them to face consequences.

Also read: As Maharashtra's MVA govt crumbles, a look at its turbulent 2.5 years

BJP sources, talking to News18, quashed all rumours of the party resurrecting its alliance with Shiv Sena saying that it was never in the plans. Sources add that the BJP “would never forgive Uddhav Thackeray” for leaving the party and joining hands with the NCP and Congress.

“Unnatural political alliances with conflicting political ideologies do not last. Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad tried it in Bihar in 2015, won the state elections, but the alliance collapsed with Kumar returning to the BJP fold. A similar case was the Shiv Sena’s opportunistic alliance with the Congress and NCP that has seen the Sena implode over the core issue of Hindutva and a majority of 39 out of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs deserting Uddhav’s side,” a senior BJP leader told the publication.

In 2017, the Bjp had formed an alliance with Nitish Kumar in Bihar and also secured power in UP the same year. Their then alliance with Shiv Sena broke after the latter walked out of the alliance post the 2019 polls.

The BJP's simultaneous rule in UP, Maharashtra, and Bihar is a recurrence of the 2019 parliamentary elections when the NDA won 144 of these 168 constituencies to secure a record 352 seats in the Lok Sabha.

Shinde’s rebellion hence, puts the BJP in an advantageous position and Uddhav Thackeray in a treacherous one with questions over his political future, the future of the party and the legacy of the Thackerays.