BJP’s campaign raises eyebrows

Insiders points to the party’s strategy to strip opposition of possible scoring points by keeping it a low affair

Bihar BJP MLA Maithili Thakur campaigns in favour of Mahayuti candidate Rekha Yadav for the upcoming BMC election at Borivali on Sunday. | Pic: PTI

Mumbai: In a departure from its high-octane, star-studded campaign templates of the past, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has adopted a notably austere and localised approach for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. As the city approaches the polling date of January 15, the ‘glamour quotient’ that once defined the saffron party’s Mumbai outreach is conspicuously absent.

For a party that has historically leveraged the charisma of its celebrity MPs like Hema Malini and Kangana Ranaut, their absence from the narrow lanes of Dadar, Parel, and Ghatkopar is striking. Similarly, former MPs and seasoned campaigners like Paresh Rawal, Kirron Kher, and Sunny Deol have been kept away from the limelight. Manoj Tiwari, Annamalai, Maithili Thakur and likes of them, with lower glamour quotient did campaign in some pockets of Mumbai. But, their roles were much limited.

The crowd pullers like UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are also missing from the BJP’s campaign.

This shift suggests a calculated pivot. The ‘Bollywood factor’ while effective for national narratives, often risks alienating the grassroots ‘Marathi Manoos’ who view BMC polls as a battle for the city’s soul rather than a cinematic spectacle. By keeping these figures at bay, the BJP is likely shielding itself from the ‘outsider’ tag that the Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS frequently employ to whip up regional sentiment.

Marathi Wind

The primary reason for this strategic ‘glamour fast’ appears to be a precautionary measure to take the wind out of the Thackeray cousins’ sails. With this kind of campaign that consciously keeps away the glamour quotient, the BJP appears to be wanting to neutralise regionalism. Both Uddhav and Raj Thackeray are banking heavily on Marathi identity. By deploying local booth-level workers and grassroots leaders instead of Hindi film stars, the BJP is attempting to present a ‘Bhoomiputra’ (son of the soil) face.

The second piller of the BJP›s campaign appears to be the direct engagement with voters. The party has pivoted to ‘Nukkad Sabhas’ and ‘Chawl meetings’ led by local corporators who speak the language and dialect of the residents, making it harder for the MVA to paint the BJP as a party controlled solely by Delhi.

However, the key of the BJP’s campaign still remains the Fadnavis Factor, the Mantle of the State. The strategy seems to have been designed to cement the leadership of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. He has been the face of this campaign, positioning himself as the ‘architect of modern Mumbai’.

Sources within the party suggest that top national leaders were deliberately kept on the periphery to prove that the state unit is capable of winning the ‘Battle for Mumbai’ on its own merit. Fadnavis’ confidence – having predicted that the Mahayuti will win 27 out of 29 Municipal Corporations – is being tested here. This election is as much a referendum on his governance as it is on the party’s popularity.