In the recently declared results of civic polls in Maharashtra, BJP has won 41 of 78 seats in Sangli-Miraj-Kupwa and 57 of 75 seats in Jalgaon. Sangli has long been a Congress bastion and BJP’s success in Congress terrain reaffirms Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis’s popularity and administrative capabilities.

Liberal political commentators, who are yet to come to terms with the fact that they are not well versed with the mood of the nation, did not hesitate to wax eloquence on how the public wasn’t too happy with the BJP.

On 2nd August, Nikhil Wagle wrote about how he had travelled extensively and asserted that people are upset with BJP in Maharashtra.

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The very next day, BJP swept Sangli. A Congress stronghold. Wage then proceeded to wonder if Congress and NCP would introspect. Not acknowledging the fact that his prediction was so off the mark.

If the BJP is winning even in Congress strongholds, it can be safely assumed that unlike elitists on Twitter, public opinion is very much favourable towards the BJP. Nikhil Wagle wasn’t the only one who incorrectly gauged the mood of the citizens of Maharashtra. Another pundit opined that the BJP is viewed as a Brahmin and Gujrati party and with the rise of Maratha identity politics, Amit Shah will have to ‘prostrate’ before Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray to avoid annihilation.

” Essayist & author. Former editor of newspapers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh. Free thinker, equal opportunity offender. ” ????????? pic.twitter.com/lC0wviMjzY — SuperStar Raj (@rajsan2017) August 3, 2018

Contrary to the beliefs of political pundits, the BJP is going from strength to strength in Maharashtra and Devendra Fadnavis himself appears to be hugely popular among the masses. And despite the Maratha agitation and the Dalit Andolan by vested interests, the BJP doesn’t seem to have incurred too much damage. And the BJP’s victory in Sangli, in particular, appears to have rattled the ecosystem pretty hard. One wonders at what point the pundits will throw their hands up in the air and call it a day but judging from the events from the past couple of years, it is unlikely to be anytime soon.