Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mahayuti in the Maharashtra municipal elections, saying the party is winning even in places where it was once considered impossible to garner support.
The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance emerged as the largest alliance in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections and defeated the Thackeray brothers. According to official figures, the BJP won 89 seats, while its ally Shinde Sena got 29 seats. Mahayuti voted in a total of 29 municipal bodies including Thane, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad.
Addressing a public meeting in Malda, West Bengal, Prime Minister Modi attributed the victory in the BMC elections and Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram local body elections to the faith of young voters in the BJP’s ‘development model’.
He said, “The results of the urban local body elections in Maharashtra were declared yesterday. The BJP has achieved a historic victory in these elections. Notably, the BJP has registered a record-breaking victory in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), one of the largest municipal corporations in the world, for the first time in Mumbai, which is a significant development in the politics of Maharashtra.”
Modi said, “A few days ago, the BJP also elected its first mayor in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram. This shows that even in places where it was once considered impossible for the BJP to win elections, the party is getting unprecedented support.”
Last year, the BJP had achieved a historic victory over the UDF and LDF in the Thiruvananthapuram municipal elections. BJP’s V.V. Rajesh became the first mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation from the party, getting 51 votes and the support of 50 BJP councilors and one independent councillor. UDF’s K.S. Sabarinathan got 17 votes and LDF’s R.P. Shivaji got 29 votes.
Furthermore, PM Modi said that BJP’s victory in difficult areas will help the party also win in West Bengal in the assembly elections to be held later this year.
He further said, “This shows how deeply the voters of the country, that is, people from generation to generation, have faith in the BJP’s development model. Even in the areas where lies and rumors have been spread about the BJP for years, the voters are now giving us their support. Seeing your enthusiasm today, I am confident that this time the people of Bengal will also give a resounding victory to the BJP.”
This morning, Prime Minister Modi flagged off India’s first Vande Bharat sleeper train from Malda in West Bengal. Vande Bharat Express will run on Howrah-Guwahati (Kamakhya) route. His address was a call for West Bengal Assembly elections as the politics of the state is heating up amid the clash between BJP and TMC.
While removal of illegal immigrants is a key issue for the BJP in West Bengal, Prime Minister Modi assured “full protection” to the Matua Namasudra community under the Citizenship Amendment Act.
He said, “Our refugees, people from the Matua Namasudra community, who have come here to escape religious persecution in neighboring countries, have nothing to fear. The Constitution gives these citizens the right to live in India. Modi has provided complete protection to these refugees through the CAA.”
The Matua community, a Dalit Hindu community that has migrated from Bangladesh, has considerable influence on about 80 assembly seats in West Bengal. The BJP is actively trying to woo this community by promising citizenship through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
