Maharashtra elections 2024: How BJP shifted poll narrative to Vote Jihad

The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP part of the incumbent Mahayuti alliance has a new narrative just days before Maharashtra goes to the polls on November 20 Itrsquos called lsquovote jihadrsquo and the mainstreaming began with the release of a report last week at a Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS seminar titled lsquoIllegal Immigrants to Mumbai Analysing Socioeconomic and Political ConsequencesrsquoCity BJP leader Kirit Somaiya spotlighted the report at a November 9 press conference saying it is a larger lsquovote jihadrsquo conspiracy to garner minority votes The next day Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis echoed the lsquovote jihadrsquo in an election rally at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar formerly AurangabadMaharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis PicsShadab KhanVote jihad should be countered with a vote dharma yuddhldquoVote jihad should be countered with a vote dharma yuddhrdquo he said at the rally Fadnavis alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi or MVA Congress Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray NCP Sharadchandra Pawar have exploited minority votes to win past elections ldquoWe were not awake thenrdquo he said ldquoWe are awake nowrdquo In a reference to Aurangabadrsquos name change the city was named after erstwhile Mughal ruler Aurangzeb he added ldquoNo one will dare to change the name backrdquoThis sudden shift in rhetoric redirected the Mahayutirsquos campaign focus from lsquoLadki Bahinrsquo Dear Sister and other welfare schemes to a Hindutvacentred appeal Consequently the political landscape in Maharashtra has intensified this week inviting opposition counterpoints saying BJPrsquos poll plank is divisive and contrary to electoral codesOn Monday for instance AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi said ldquoWhen they donrsquot get votes they resort to jihadrdquo Fadnavis on his part doubled down countering ldquoThey are descendants of Razakars who tortured the people of Marathwada looted their land and destroyed hundreds of familiesrdquoUnion Home Minister Amit Shah added to the BJPrsquos poll position this week by saying his party will bring an anticonversion law into effect if voted into power Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election rallies in Maharashtra coined ldquoEk Hain to Safe Hainrdquo We are safe if we are one a slogan he is expected to repeat in his Mumbai rally on ThursdayWhat is vote jihadTo be sure lsquovote jihadrsquo is not a new slogan It had previously featured in an October rally by Fadnavis where he attributed BJPrsquos underperformance in certain Lok Sabha constituencies to this alleged phenomenon Speaking in Kolhapur last month he stated ldquoIn 14 out of 48 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra lsquovote jihadrsquo was a factor Hindutva thought needs to awaken if antiHindu leaders are being elected to top positionsrdquoShiv Sena UBT leader Aaditya Thackeray PICKIRTI SURVE PARADEThe TISS reportLater on November 5 TISS hosted a national seminar at its Deonar campus to discuss the abovementioned reportrsquos findings bringing together academics policymakers government officials and experts from across India According to the institute the seminar facilitated indepth discussions on socioeconomic issues healthcare and the political impact of illegal immigration in MumbaiProfessor Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit vicechancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi was the chief guest and keynote speaker while Sukh Ram Meena former director general in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare was the guest of honourProfessor Shankar Das pro vicechancellor of TISS and principal investigator of the study along with assistant professor Souvik Mondal the coprincipal Investigator presented the report Das highlighted a significant gap in understanding the realtime impact of illegal immigration on Mumbairsquos socioeconomic and urban landscape He stressed the need for comprehensive policy responses that address these complexities while ensuring stability and securityldquoMumbairsquos population and resource challenges are only part of the storyrdquo he said ldquoWe need a deeper understanding of how illegal immigration affects employment access to services and the sociopolitical environmentrdquoMondal provided insights into the research methodology emphasising the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to tackle issues like cultural displacement rising crime housing shortages healthcare strain and risks of ldquoradicalisationrdquoSpeaking with midday Prof Mondal said the sixmonth study involved a sample size of 3000 individuals with findings based on both primary and secondary data ldquoThis study is rooted in extensive literature review and a systematic approach to understand the gaps in existing researchrdquo he said BJP leaders including Fadnavis and Somaiya have since been using the report as validation of their allegations of lsquovote jihadrsquoFormer BJP MP Kirit Somaiya PICSSAYYED SAMEER ABEDIShiv Sena UBT leader and Worli candidate Aaditya Thackeray responded critically questioning the Union governmentrsquos role in border security and the infusion of illegal immigrants into the country ldquoThe Home Minister must answer how illegal immigrants manage to enter the country and travel to Mumbai from Bangladeshrdquo he said in an interview to PTI and also challenged the timing of the reportMondal told midday that the pathways of immigration from Bangladesh and Myanmar through eastern states to Mumbai can be perplexing since ldquoMumbai has no direct border with any neighbouring country yet immigrants keep arriving hererdquo He said most survey respondents shared that their first residences in India were in states such as West Bengal Assam Jharkhand and Bihar before migrating to MumbaiWhen asked about the reportrsquos political reception Mondal said ldquoThis report serves an academic purpose The larger goal is to encourage informed dialogue and shape policies that foster socioeconomic harmonyrdquo An NCP leader from the Ajit Pawar faction part of the Mahayuti alliance told midday ldquoWe donrsquot endorse the lsquoVote Jihadrsquo and lsquoBatenge to Katengersquo narrative Many of our candidates are Muslims and such rhetoric will only create a divide among Maharashtrian Muslims and spread unwarranted tensionrdquoUttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the other hand joined the nationwide BJP mainstreaming of the partyrsquos latest rhetoric In a rally in Achalpur in Maharashtra on Tuesday he said ldquoMaharashtra could become a base for love jihad and land jihad The state should not become a laboratory for such practicesrdquo He said the MVA fostered division and ldquocreated an environment that could threaten the safety and security of the statersquos citizensrdquoSpeaking with midday Shiv Sena UBT leader Sushma Andhare said ldquoWhatrsquos happening in Maharashtrarsquos political scene is BJPrsquos same old divisive politics combined with Devendra Fadnavisrsquos extreme negativity They seem to be getting feedback that their hollow welfare schemes and political sops like Ladki Bahin have failed to impress the people of Maharashtra It was evident to me in every part of the state I visited and every person I met In my opinion theyrsquove realised they are losing in many seats which is why theyrsquove started pushing this lsquovote jihadrsquo and lsquobatengekatengersquo narrativerdquoCongress leader Sachin Sawant remarked ldquoThis is typical of BJP leaders during election season When all else fails and theyrsquore facing the prospect of a miserable loss they resort to narratives like lsquoVoteJihadrsquo lsquoEk hai toh safe hairsquo and lsquoKatenge to Batengersquo This is just another attempt to polarise votesrdquoBJPrsquos Somaiya said the TISS report ldquoclearly states that Hindu population in Mumbai will decrease by 5437 by 2051 while the number of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas is increasingrdquo He added quoting the report ldquoThe Hindu population in Mumbai was 8837 in 1961 which declined to 6637 in 2011 At the same time the Muslim population saw an increase from 837 in 1961 to 2137 in 2011 Today at places like Govandi Mankhurd Mumbra Mumbadevi Naya Nagar Bhiwandi etc there is a huge population of Bangladeshi migrants and Rohingya Muslims Hence Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wants Vote Jihad while Yogi says Batenge to Katenge and and Modi ji says Ek hain toh safe hainrdquoA Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction leader told midday ldquoWe are focusing on promoting our work and public welfare schemes as we have a solid report card to present The issues of lsquovotejihadrsquo or lsquobatenge katengersquo are being raised by the BJP and we have chosen to stay away from them for now This is not our issuerdquoState BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye told midday ldquoItrsquos not us but the Congress and MVA alliance who resort to vote polarisation and divisive politics Wersquore simply following the slogan Modiji has given us lsquoSabka Saath Sabka Vikasrsquo As for lsquoVote Jihadrsquo wersquore merely pointing to what we witnessed as recently as the 2024 Lok Sabha election In Malegaon we saw a clear case of onesided voting The BJP was ahead by 190 lakh votes in Dhule but in the Malegaon assembly segment there were 194 lakh votes that shifted the result We lost by just 4000 votes This lsquoVote Jihadrsquo was the reason for our defeat there not because we werenrsquot united The Opposition claims wersquore trying to polarise votes on religious grounds but in reality itrsquos the MVA who resort to such tacticsrdquoWhat is the TISS report aboutA newly released report from the TISS Mumbai highlights the profound impact of illegal immigration on Mumbairsquos socioeconomic landscape The report titled Illegal Immigrants to Mumbai Analysing Socioeconomic and Political Consequences talks about the ldquochallenges posed by the growing population of Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants in the cityrdquoResearchers warn of potential consequences for infrastructure public services and local employment and suggest stricter immigration controls to manage the strain on the cityrsquos resources