Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday thanked the people of Maharashtra and Haryana for what he termed an “early Deepavali gift” for re-electing the BJP in Maharashtra and making it the single largest party in Haryana.
While in Haryana, the party was busy cobbling together a majority with the help of Independent MLAs, in Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine has a clear majority but faces a much stronger Opposition than before.
All this, however, was not what Mr. Modi stressed as he addressed party workers at the BJP’s national headquarters in New Delhi.
He spoke, instead, of the journey of the BJP from being a minor player in both these States to coming back to power.
“In Maharashtra, we were the smaller party to the Shiv Sena. We had never had a Chief Minister there before 2014, but what happened there was unique. Devendra Fadanvis was the first Chief Minister in 50 years in the State to complete a full five-year term. In electing us back, the people of the State have shown great faith in us, and we are mindful of that,” he said.
Recalling his own days of handling party affairs in Haryana, Mr. Modi said the BJP’s situation in the State in the past was such that it could not even choose the seats it would fight on in seat-sharing arrangements with other parties.
‘Unprecedented’
“From there to emerge as the single largest party in an environment where governments are rarely elected back, is an achievement and is unprecedented. In 2014, we got 33% of the votes, this time we have 36%, a 3% increase, which is a sign of people’s confidence,” the Prime Minister said. It was a pep talk to party workers who had been feeling a bit disheartened after the party put up a less than anticipated performance.
He assured the people of both States that the party was mindful of people’s confidence and trust. “I have found, after coming to the Centre, that BJP-ruled states show more alacrity in implementing good governance. Governments run by other parties spend the first two years of their tenure changing names of programmes, lest I get the credit and not them,” he said.
Mr. Modi’s speech came just before the party parliamentary board met to appoint observers for both states for legislative party polls.
