Why Maratha leader Jarange-Patil pulling out of Maharashtra polls might hurt BJP
Candidates backed by the Maratha quota activist being in the fray could have led to a split in the anti-BJP votes of the community.
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On Monday, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil announced that he would not back any candidate in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections, adding that his supporters were free to vote for any party they wanted to. There was, however, a crucial caveat, as Jarange-Patil urged Maratha voters to apply the “Lok Sabha formula”. If effective, this would end up hurting the Bharatiya Janata Party.
In the Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra’s ruling Mahayuti alliance lost seven of the eight Lok Sabha seats it contested in the state’s Marathwada region, including all four where the BJP put up candidates. This was largely an impact of the Maratha quota agitation led by Jarange-Patil. So, the intention of his instruction on Monday was clear even as he did not explicitly voice it.
The Mahayuti alliance consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party.
Since Jarange-Patil started his agitation in August last year, calling for reservation for Marathas under the Other Backward Classes quota, he has repeatedly targeted the BJP for failing to meet the demand. On Monday, he said he would not endorse anyone, less than a day after he pledged support for 25 candidates, belonging to neither the ruling or Opposition alliance.
After the announcement,...
