‘400 Paar Planted Doubts In People’s Minds’: CM Shinde Says False Narratives Hit NDA’s Maharashtra LS Tally

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party-led (BJP) National Democratic Alliance’s ‘400 paar’ slogan made people believe the “Opposition’s false narratives”, thus hitting their tally.

“The kind of work Prime Minister Narendra Modi did in 10 years, it wasn’t done in 50-60 years. But we had to suffer losses in some places because false narratives were spread against us…Even in Maharashtra, there were talks that the Constitution would be changed and reservation would go…Nothing of that sort was going to happen. The ‘400 paar’ number in the slogan planted doubts in people’s minds, they thought something might happen later [and believed false narratives]…,” said Shinde.

Lauding Narendra Modi, who is now serving his third term as the Prime Minister, Shinde said, “PM Narendra Modi has dedicated his life to the country…Which PM has not taken a leave in 10 years? It is Modiji. Our state government also contributed to his work. We are their old partners…”

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections for Maharashtra’s 48 seats were fought between two alliances – the ruling Mahayuti or NDA comprising BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar) and Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) faction and the MVA or Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), with Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Congress.

The MVA secured 29 seats, while the Mahayuti bagged 18 and one went to a Congress rebel-turned-independent Vishal P Patil in Sangli. Among the two blocs, the MVA’s Congress bagged 12, up from two in 2014 and one in 2019, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s 10, Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s 7. The Mahayuti’s BJP secured 11 seats, Shiv Sena 6 and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) just one.

The BJP-led alliance had won 41 seats in 2019. The BJP had won 23 of the 25 seats it had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while its then alliance partner — undivided Shiv Sena — won 18 of the 23 seats. The undivided NCP, as part of the opposition alliance, had contested 19 seats and managed to win four.

Following the BJP’s dismal performance, deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis on June 5 said he would ask the BJP’s national leadership to relieve him from his responsibilities in the Maharashtra government so that he could work dedicatedly for the party in the state. “This debacle that happened in Maharashtra, our seats have been reduced, the entire responsibility for this is mine. I accept this responsibility and will try to fulfil whatever is lacking,” he said.

Responding to it, Shinde had said, “All of us are responsible for this defeat. I will speak to Fadnavi,” he said.

However, on June 8, Fadnavis dismissed all rumours of his resignation from the post of Deputy CM. “I am not going to run away and have not taken any decision out of my emotions, but I have some strategy in my mind,” he said.