The bugle of assembly elections has been sounded in Maharashtra. The challenge for BJP is to save power here. For this, the saffron party is working on every front. Several development works were inaugurated and foundation stones laid in the poll-bound state in recent times. Along with this, BJP is also trying to work on castes in Maharashtra. It has put in all its efforts to win over OBCs as well as Dalits to its side.
Addressing a Dussehra rally in Maharashtra’s Beed district, BJP leader Pankaja Munde said, “Backwards have made me what I am and I am the daughter of Gopinath Munde.” He also called upon the backward people to show their strength. At the same time, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju was holding meetings with leaders of the Buddhist Dalit community in Maharashtra. These meetings reflect the BJP’s move to strengthen and enhance its position among the backward classes and Dalits in Maharashtra.
Pankaja Munde has shared the stage with her cousin Dhananjay Munde after more than a decade in Beed. Pankaja is seen as the OBC face of BJP in Marathwada. The party has deployed Rijiju to make inroads among Buddhist Dalits, especially in the Vidarbha region. Dalit Buddhists constitute more than 50% of the total SC voters in Maharashtra. This class has generally been with the Congress or the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi led by Prakash Ambedkar.
Till now Rijiju has held more than a hundred meetings and met prominent community leaders in Maharashtra.
