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| NCP's pro-Maratha perception alienated OBC voters |
| Press Trust of India / Mumbai May 19, 2009, 10:09 IST |
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The Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party's pro-Maratha perception among voters is being blamed for the outfit getting less than half the number of Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra compared to ally Congress. The perception of a pro-Maratha stance among voters damaged the party's prospects, as other castes, specially OBCs, consolidated against Marathas and favoured Shiv Sena-BJP alliance in western Maharashtra, NCP sources said.
Compared to the Congress tally of 17, NCP bagged only eight seats, one less than the party's tally during 2004 elections. NCP was expecting to get all Maratha votes from its traditional bastion of western Maharashtra, by endorsing reservation for Marathas ahead of the elections but ended up losing six seats —Shirur, Maval, Ahmednagar, Hatkangale, Kolhapur and Shirdi in the region.
"Some senior party leaders had suggested the party leadership to concentrate on OBCs, who constitute 54 per cent of the state population while Marathas are only 30 per cent," the sources told PTI.
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, NCP, whose top rung comprises mostly of Maratha leadership, was under pressure to approve reservation to the financially-backward among Marathas. NCP leader Vinayak Mete led an agitation for reservation and had threatened to oppose the party if the demand was not met.
He was expelled from the party but was reinstated just before the elections. In its election manifesto, the party declared that it favoured reservation for Marathas without touching the OBC quota. "The party's perceived pro-Maratha stance hurt the feelings of other communities, including OBCs and they voted for the Sena-BJP saffron alliance instead," the sources said.
NCP leaders were vocal on Maratha reservation strategy and encouraged the pro-reservation agitation to woo Maratha voters in Marathwada and Western Maharashtra, the sources said.
However, there was resentment among the economically backward Marathas that the demand for reservation like that for OBCs was not met and this had an impact on the NCP's vote share, the sources said.
The Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena got a large chunk of Maratha votes in Nashik, where Sameer, nephew of Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, contested.
Sameer won but with a small margin. Another reason for the party's poor show could be projection of Pawar as Prime Ministerial candidate, the sources said.
"Some leaders unnecessarily portrayed Pawar as Prime Ministerial candidate during the poll campaign. The focus was shifted on whether Pawar could grab the post, instead of developmental issues," the sources added.
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