Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called the Lok Sabha election results in Maharashtra a “temporary setback” for the BJP. He was addressing the party workers during the Mumbai BJP conclave titled Vijay Sankalp Melava in Mumbai.
“We will bounce back. What happened in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was a temporary setback as the results were not up to our expectations. But then the electoral loss was due to ‘fake narrative’,” he said.
Encouraging the party workers, Fadnavis said, “We should always bear in mind that our overall vote share in Mumbai or Maharashtra has remained intact. In Maharashtra we lost only two lakh votes. The Mahayuti polled just two lakh votes less compared to Maha Vikas Aghadi.”
According to Fadnavis, Marathis and Mumbaikars did not vote for Shiv Sena (UBT) in the Lok Sabha Elections. “What gave them success is the votes from one particular minority community,” he stated.
“The Shiv Sena (UBT) for last two years compromised its ideology. They had moved away from Hindutva agenda. They had stopped using the term ‘Hindu’ brothers and sisters in their speech. Instead, they indulged in appeasement of Muslims,” Fadnavis added.
“The elections for the Mumbai Graduate constituency gives us an golden opportunity to once against show our strength. It also gives up an opportunity to counter the fake narrative and appeasement politics which had worked to our rivals’ advantage in Lok Sabha polls,” he said.
The BJP has fielded Kiran Shelar for the Mumbai Graduate seat against the Sena UBT’s former minister Anil Parab.
