Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In Phase 3, acid test for BJP in Karnataka, Maharashtra & Gujarat

New Delhi: As the polling in the third phase for Lok Sabha elections is scheduled on Tuesday, three states -- Karnataka, Maharashtra and even Gujarat -- will prove to be the acid test for the BJP.

Sources within the BJP said that as this phase features some of the seats where the BJP has traditionally done well, it hopes to recover some of the losses that it faced in the first and second phase.

A senior party leader said that along with Bihar, Maharashtra has accounted for most of the party’s focus seats. 

One of the states where the BJP needs to prove its mettle is Karnataka, a state where it seems to be slipping electorally. In the 2019 Lok Sabha, the BJP won 27 of Karnataka’s 28 seats, but since then, the party lost the assembly elections in 2023. A senior party leader confided that winning 20, too, could prove to be tough this time. 

“The Congress is using the Prajwal Revanna case to counter our campaign, but we will hold our ground in the traditional seats,” the leader said.

The BJP’s central command, despite entrusting the state’s affairs with BS Yedyurappa’s son, has faced rebellion --  KS Eshwarappa and local Hassan leader Deve Rajegowda are examples. 

In Maharashtra, where the party is no longer fighting with Shiv Sena alone but with its splinter and a splinter of the NCP, the BJP is trying to find a foothold within the alliance partners. While in 2019, the BJP-led NDA won seven of the 11 seats in the contest in this phase, this time it could prove to be difficult. 

A Parliamentarian from the state, who did not wish to be named, said that the BJP just needs to maintain the status quo. “There is this idea that people will be confused with the symbols and whom to vote for, but the BJP voter remains unchanged – we simply need to defend what we did last term,” the lawmaker said. 

The BJP is also facing a task of sorts in Gujarat, with BJP in the state -- the home of both the PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah -- facing fierce opposition from the Rajput and Kshatriya communities.

In this phase, elections will be held in 25 of the state’s 26 seats, with the Surat seat facing no contest. In addition to the Rajput protests, the BJP will also look at defending the Anand seat, a traditional Congress seat, which the BJP won in 2019.