Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Saturday said the vote difference in the Lok Sabha elections between the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the NDA was just 0.3%, but some people were calling it a big success. He said people would vote for the BJP and its allies in the Assembly polls since they know giving power to the MVA would stall welfare projects.
The NDA suffered a massive setback in the Lok Sabha elections as they could win only 18 of 48 seats, while 30 went to the MVA. The Congress emerged as the best-performing party with 13 seats. The BJP, however, saw its tally dip from 23 in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to nine in 2024. In the Lok Sabha polls, the NDA secured 43.55% of votes, while the MVA got 43.71%.
"The difference in votes was just 0.3% but some people are flying high calling it a big success. People will vote for the Mahayuti in the assembly polls since they know an MVA government will stop the welfare schemes of the Modi government," Bawankule said in a swipe at the opposition.
Earlier in the day, Uddhav Thackeray, Sharad Pawar, and Prithviraj Chavan, all part of the MVA, said their alliance would win the upcoming assembly polls in Maharashtra.
The Maharashtra BJP chief refuted Thackeray's claim that all segments of society voted for the MVA in the Lok Sabha elections and said: "51% of votes of the Shiv Sena (UBT) were from Muslims", which he got due to his "anti Hindu stand over the past two-and-half years".
Thackeray said that the Lok Sabha election was only the beginning and the opposition alliance will maintain its winning streak in the coming assembly elections in the state. "During the election campaign, I addressed my audience as 'deshbhakts' (patriots)...all deshbhakts came together to save democracy," the former chief minister said, adding that people have awakened and the struggle has just started.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis claimed that the candidates of the Shiv Sena (UBT) won Lok Sabha elections in the six seats in Mumbai due to the votes of minorities and non-Marathi and non-Hindi speakers. He further said that the Uddhav Sena allegedly won the Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai on the votes who started using 'janaab' instead of the more popular Hindu Hrudyasamrat for the late Balasaheb Thackeray.