The BJP has made a strategic decision to adopt a hard Hindutva agenda coupled with a development plank to counter the Thackeray brothers’ emotive plank of “Marathi asmita” in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. With Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray coming together, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena hope to consolidate their hold in Marathi-dominated areas across Mumbai. The Sena (UBT) has also cast its net wider to reach out to Muslims. Thus, the Marathi-Muslim factor is likely to emerge as the biggest challenge for the ruling BJP.
The BJP leadership has decided to adopt this strategy in the polls in 29 municipal corporations, including BMC. By planning to deploy Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane—known for his controversial remarks—for the election campaign, the party has prepared a template to launch sharp and shrill attacks on opponents. And in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP has found a leader who can carry Hindutva along with the development plank.
Hindutva will serve a twofold purpose. Firstly, the BJP believes Hindutva will lead to sharp polarisation between Hindus and Muslims. The consolidation of Hindus will work to its advantage as Muslim voters are going to stick to the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the Sena (UBT) and MNS, led by the Thackeray brothers. Secondly, BJP insiders think Hindutva is a tried-and-tested plank effective to counter caste- and community-driven politics in civic polls.
From BJP leaders’ statements to posters that have come up, it is evident that the saffron party wants to further sharpen the Hindu-Muslim divide to its electoral advantage in the municipal corporation polls, to be held across the state on January 15.
A day after the reunion of Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray, Fadnavis made a statement that showed the BJP’s growing reliance on Hindutva. The chief minister said, “There are some who have indulged in appeasement politics for votes and power. They have buried the political ideology of the late Bal Thackeray.”
“Whereas, our Hindutva is inclusive, overriding caste, creed, and communities. For us, Hindutva is a way of life. And not mere rituals,” Fadnavis said.
In a dig at MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Fadnavis made a terse comment: “We don’t wear a saffron shawl to appeal to a vote bank.” The reference was to Raj making a style statement by wearing a saffron shawl during a public rally at Shivaji Park.
From endorsing and celebrating the Ram Temple movement to taking to the streets against “love jihad” and “land jihad”, the BJP is banking on renewed aggression to consolidate Hindus.
After Abdul Rashid Khan, a former Congress mayor of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, joined the Sena (UBT), Mumbai BJP president Ameet Satam said, “When Rashid Mamu joins the Shiv Sena (UBT), it shows to what extent Uddhav Thackeray is desperate to get minorities’ votes.”
“The Thackeray brothers are banking on the Mamu gang. They have no problems with people who had shouted the slogan Pakistan Zindabad,” he alleged. Taking quick steps, the BJP has shortlisted its key campaigners to make noises that are loud and controversial.
On Saturday, minister Nitesh Rane took to X, saying, “Jo Hindu hit ki baat karega, wahi ‘Amchi Mumbai’ paar raj karega (Only those who speak in the interest of Hindus will rule our Mumbai).” The BJP will use Rane’s hardline Hindutva image to appease the sizeable Marathi population from the Konkan that has settled in Mumbai for generations and has been with the Shiv Sena since Bal Thackeray’s days.
Senior BJP MLA Sanjay Upadhyay said, “Like in every election, we will stick to Hindutva, which is our ideology. Along with it, we have a development agenda. Under CM Devendra Fadnavis’s tenure, we have done work, which is for one and all to see and personally experience.”
While he underplayed the BJP’s tactics to maximise its appeal through North Indians and Gujaratis to counter the Marathi-Muslim plank, Upadhyay said, “Our appeal is not restricted to any community or caste or religion. The BJP’s acceptance transcends caste, community, and creed lines. We will talk about development. Look at the coastal road or the metro. Anybody who has traveled will admit how it has changed their lives for the better. It holds true for Marathi as well as North Indians and others.”
Although BJP leaders harp on inclusive development politics, the party’s core team has meticulously drawn plans to reach out to people along community and caste lines to gain wider acceptance.
A case in point is the campaign—highlighted by posters saying “batoge tau pitoge (if you are divided, you will be beaten)”—warning North Indians to unite in favour of the BJP and against the Thackeray brothers’ Marathi assertion. The party is also planning to get Adityanath to campaign during civic polls.
A senior BJP functionary said, “Mumbai is our key concern, where North Indians are a decisive force with 20 per cent of the population. With Adityanath, we not only will push the Hindutva agenda but also woo North Indians to our side.”
Why is Hindutva important for parties?
The undivided Shiv Sena, led by Bal Thackeray, who was popularly addressed as Hindu Hriday Samrat, strongly subscribed to Hindutva. Over the years, a Shiv Sena-BJP alliance was formed on the shared ideology of Hindutva. Even Uddhav Thackeray had taken a hard Hindutva stand, publicly supporting the Ram temple at Ayodhya and opposing illegal immigration by Bangladeshis. After the 2019 Assembly polls, Uddhav Thackeray broke the Shiv Sena’s alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress and the NCP. The three parties formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which then came to power with Uddhav as the chief minister. In subsequent public rallies, he stopped addressing the gatherings as “maze Hindu bandhav (my Hindu brothers)”—a shift that was seen as a compromise made to the Congress and the NCP, with whose support he got power. He was the chief minister from 2019 to 2022.
The MVA parties contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together and won 31 seats collectively— Congress 13, the Shiv Sena (UBT) nine, and the NCP (SP) eight. The Sena (UBT)’s good performance was attributed to the transfer of Congress votes mainly from Muslims and Dalits. However, Uddhav has strongly rejected the BJP’s charge of compromising on ideology. “Our Hindutva is not restricted to ritualistic dogmas. Our Hindutva accommodates all of humanity. We don’t have to learn Hindutva lessons from the BJP,” he said.
Will Hindutva help BJP dilute Thackeray’s Marathi vote bank?
Over the years, the BJP has come to the conclusion that Hindutva is one agenda that can consolidate Hindu votes. It has a wider appeal across castes and communities. While the Thackeray brothers are talking about “threats” to Mumbai and Marathi manoos (sons of the soil) to gain an edge in the BMC polls, the BJP believes Hindutva can become a bolder factor. In the Assembly polls last year, the rhetoric of “batenge tau katenge, ek hain tau safe hain” was aggressively used to further the Hindutva agenda. And the BJP succeeded.