From left: MNS chief Raj Thackeray, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and BJP leader Nitin Gadkari after casting their votes on Wednesday
The BJP will read good news in the high voter turnout in Maharashtra and Haryana that voted for new governments today. Haryana recorded its highest ever turnout at 73 per cent and Maharashtra at 62, among the highest in 15 years, according to the Election Commission. Votes will be counted on Sunday.
BJP leaders in Maharashtra calculate that a voter turnout of over 62 per cent in the state means they can cross the halfway mark of 144 of 288 seats.
In that complex arithmetic, the Narendra Modi factor is the most key element, they say. Also, an anti-incumbency sentiment against the Congress, which has ruled for the last 15 years, they say.
In the first major elections since Prime Minister Narendra Modi stormed to power at the Centre on a pledge to reform the economy, his party the BJP dumped allies in both states and has banked solely on what it calls the "Modi wave," turning this into a test of his popularity.
As voting began this morning, Mr Modi tweeted, "Urging the people of Haryana and Maharashtra to go out and cast their votes. Youngsters must show the way and ensure record turnout."
Haryana's best turnout so far was 72.65 per cent in 1967. Maharashtra last recorded such a voter turnout in 1999, when the Congress unseated the BJP-Shiv Sena. Conventionally, big voter turnouts are seen as a sign that people want change.
Mr Modi campaigned extensively in the two states. He needs big wins in today's elections to up his government's numbers in the Rajya Sabha to be able to push reforms through Parliament. The BJP-led NDA is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha, whose composition is based on seats won in regional assemblies.
In Maharashtra, two alliances - the BJP-Shiv Sena and the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party - came apart over seat sharing days before voting, making this a four-cornered contest with Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Narvnirman Sena or MNS providing a fifth.
Rival parties asserted there is no "Modi wave." Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, "I have full faith public will choose me."
In Haryana, the BJP, the ruling Congress and OP Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are slugging it out.
The BJP had harvested a bumper crop in the national elections this year in both states. In Maharashtra, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine had picked up 42 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, decimating the competition. Of these the BJP had the bigger share at 23. In Haryana, the BJP had won seven of 10 Lok Sabha seats.
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