The Mahayuti government, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in Maharashtra kicked off their election campaign for the upcoming assembly elections by donating Rs 10 crore to the state Waqf board. The Mahayuti government consists of the BJP, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The move comes following the saffron party repeatedly accusing the opposition INDIA alliance of indulging in appeasement politics and sacrificing national interests to bring together its vote bank.

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Reacting to the decision, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a member of the Sangh led by the RSS, slammed the Mahayuti government’s decision for “strengthening” the state waqf board with its donation. The organisation’s Konkan region secretary, Mohan Salekar, said that even the Congress government never took a decision like this. Accusing the BJP-led government of appeasement, the VHP stated its strict opposition to the decision.

Calling out the BJP leaders on their promises of never granting reservation or benefits based on religion during campaigning and now flipping on its words, Salekar said, “This will never be tolerated,” as quoted by The Free Press Journal.

#WATCH | Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde along with Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the new office of the Maharashtra State Waqf Board in Mumbai pic.twitter.com/ZReXulmQFn

— ANI (@ANI) November 8, 2023

The organisation has warned the BJP government of facing severe backlash from Hindus in the assembly elections if the decision is not recalled. One of the BJP members said that the allegations by the VHP against the government and especially deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis are serious, and ignoring them could create a big problem for the upcoming elections, reported The Free Press Journal.

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To create further cracks, an article in Organiser, a weekly magazine associated with the RSS, criticised the BJP for creating an alliance with the NCP and inducting former Congress members such as former chief minister Ashok Chavan and others. The article led to a strong exchange of words between the NCP and the BJP.

The Mahayuti alliance, ruling bloc consisting BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde), and NCP (Ajit Pawar) suffered massive blow in the Lok Sabha elections. The alliance could grab only 17 seats, with the BJP securing 9 seats, Shiv Sena (Shinde) winning 7, and NCP winning a single 1 seat. Meanwhile, Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) secured a remarkable win by securing 29 seats. The MVA comprising Congress (11 seats), Shiv Sena (UBT) (10), and NCP (SCP) (8).