Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, AICC General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule during the release of Maha Vikas Aghadi's manifesto for Maharashtra Assembly elections, in Mumbai, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (PTI Photo)
The battle for Maharashtra has entered the hottest phase with both the BJP, which leads the Mahayuti alliance and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) releasing their manifestoes for the elections, reflecting some of the demands from the grassroots. Both the fronts have, however, returned to pet themes they had employed in the recently held Lok Sabha elections when it comes to the larger socio-political questions: while the BJP is determined to harp on Hindutva, the MVA would like to position itself as the champions of social justice.
The immediate takeaways from the manifestoes are the financial freebies on offer: both have rained promises of costly financial assistance on the electorate in varying measures. The intended beneficiaries are homemakers, unemployed youth, senior citizens and farmers. It is interesting to note that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge have on different occasions cautioned against parties making promises beyond the means of the state governments. Political expediency appears to have gotten the better of fiscal prudence, but it is never a matter of concern in Indian politics.
That both the manifestoes have given job creation the prime slots reflects the fact that the politicians have their ears to the ground: while the BJP promises 2.5 million jobs in the next five years, the MVA would pare it down to half but offers to fill more than one lakh vacancies in the government sector.
The stark difference in the manifestoes is the positions the two fronts take with respect to socio-political issues. The BJP’s promise is to introduce “a law against forced and fraudulent conversions, ensuring protection from conversions”. The promise is in tune with the tone and tenor of the campaign the saffron party conducted in the Lok Sabha elections. It is not that the state has witnessed mass-scale conversions any time soon but the BJP thinks it has a formidable opposition in the MVA to defeat if it were to retain power in the crucial state, which sends the second largest contingent of members to the Rajya Sabha, and rekindling communal passion will be the best way to achieve the target.
The party has let loose Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who unapologetically marshals the thoughts of Hindutva politics to the Maharashtra electorate with the aim of consolidating the majority community under its banner. Whether its allies approve it or not, the BJP is clear in its mind that it is the saffron politics that pays, and hence the obvious scent of that politics gets an overarching presence in the party’s scheme of politics and promises.
As for the MVA, the party has returned to harping on social justice, hence the thrust on caste census. The party has chosen to play caste politics to the hilt and hence the assertion that it will do away with the 50 per cent cap on the reservations in jobs, and will move to a system similar to that prevails in Tamil Nadu where the total reservations go up to 69 per cent. The MVA obviously does not want to let go of a state with an overwhelming presence of OBC votes.
Political parties are not known for attaching much importance to their manifestoes once elections are over. It remains to be seen how much the electorate cares for them, too.
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