Fadnavis gets poll makeover as caring brother — BJP wants 21 lakh women to send him rakhis

Maharashtra BJP Mahila Morcha has launched ‘Shakti Samman Mahotsav’ to reach out to as many women as possible ahead of the assembly elections.

Devendra Fadnavis | Twitter: @Dev_Fadnavis

Mumbai: With assembly elections approaching in Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has come up with a new poll pitch — project Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as a dependable brother for the lakhs of women across the state.

This Raksha Bandhan, the Maharashtra BJP women’s wing (Mahila Morcha) has launched a campaign, ‘Shakti Samman Mahotsav’, to reach out to women in the state — especially who are beneficiaries of the BJP-led government’s different schemes — asking them to send a rakhi to the CM along with a message. The idea is to either add more women karyakartas to the party or at least secure their support in the upcoming elections, and have a mass endorsement of Fadnavis as their leader.

“These initiatives help a lot in strengthening the party. Through this project, we have managed to reach every booth level worker in each assembly segment in Maharashtra,” said Madhavi Naik, president of the Maharashtra BJP Mahila Morcha. “We have managed to get in touch with the government beneficiaries for a vote of confidence. We have added new members too. Some women are very busy and can’t work for the party full time, but we know that we have their well wishes. They have confidence in their CM.”

21 lakh rakhis

The BJP Mahila Morcha has set a target to collect 21 lakh rakhis and messages for Fadnavis as part of the campaign. The party plans to hold a grand function at the Shanmukhanand Hall in Sion, Mumbai, on 20 August where all the rakhis and messages compiled from different booths will be handed over to the CM.

For the urban woman voter, there is also the option of sending an e-rakhi. The party has specially designed a domain for this — rakhi2cm.com — where people can record their name, number and a message for the CM.

BJP karyakartas at booth levels approach women and talk about government schemes for them, such as the ‘Majhi Kanya Bhagyashree’ to encourage girl children, the government-backed savings project ‘Pantpradhan Sukanya Samruddhi Yojana’ , ‘Asmita Yojana’ that aims to provide low-cost sanitary napkins, and mass-marriage scheme ‘Shubhamangal Samuhik Vivah Yojana’.

“We will get an idea of exactly how many rakhis we have been able to collect in the next two-three days. As of now, it seems like we have reached about 70 per cent of our target. A number of rakhis and messages that our karyakartas in Western Maharashtra and Konkan had collected were lost in the floods,” Naik said.

Fawning messages from transgenders, Brahmakumaris 

According to Naik, the Mahila Morcha has ensured that it reaches out to a wide range of women — from rural labourers and Anganwadi workers to urban blog writers across communities.

“Some of them have expressed their gratitude for the work that the CM has done for women. Many have also given suggestions and stated their expectations from Fadnavis,” she added.

The party has also made it a point to publicise some of the video messages on social media where groups of women from different backgrounds can be seen praising and thanking the CM.

“I pray to my God that Fadnavis becomes the CM for another five years, get glory and complete the dream that he has for Maharashtra,” says a video message to the CM from Aruna Poojari, a transgender from Mumbai’s Ghatkopar.

“Please continue to stand behind us as a brother,” a Muslim woman from Pimpri-Chinchwad, near Pune, says in another video message to Fadnavis. The women, who is not identified in the video, can be seen thanking the BJP for its decision on triple talaq.

Yet another video message shows a group of Brahmakumaris praise the “good work” done by the BJP-led government for women. They also ask the CM to amend norms for their non-profit organisation so they are able to operate from residential areas.

Among others, a woman from Parbhani is seen thanking Fadnavis for implementing the Maratha quota, an anganwadi worker from Mumbai thanks him for increasing her honorarium, and yet another woman hails Fadnavis as a “true brother” who offered help for her son’s surgery.