Less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in for his third consecutive term following the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has initiated preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections later this year. The party has announced its in-charges for Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Jammu and Kashmir.
In the crucial state of Maharashtra, two Union Ministers have been appointed to spearhead the campaign. Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav will serve as the in-charge, while Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has been designated as the co-in-charge.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been given the responsibility for Haryana, with former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb assisting him. In Jharkhand, the newly appointed Union Agriculture Minister and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, will take charge, supported by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP’s key strategist in the northeast.
Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy has been tasked with overseeing preparations for the Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Maharashtra, in particular, will be a focal point for the BJP not only because it hosts the financial capital, Mumbai, and is the second-largest state by Lok Sabha seats but also due to the party’s new coalition dynamics. The BJP is now aligned with the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), facing off against the Congress-Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)-NCP (Sharad Pawar) coalition.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP secured 23 out of Maharashtra’s 48 seats and 41 in an alliance with the undivided Shiv Sena. However, in the latest polls, the new coalition managed only 17 seats, with the BJP winning nine. In contrast, the Congress emerged as the single largest party, increasing its tally from one seat to 13, and 30 seats with its allies.
With these strategic appointments, the BJP aims to strengthen its position and prepare for a competitive battle in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
