Devendra Fadnavis and Nana Patole
Maharashtra’s path to power passes through the Vidarbha region. The BJP maintained political dominance in Vidarbha in 2014 and 2019 and took Maharashtra politics into its own hands, but cracks emerged in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress succeeded in regaining its lost political support base in Vidarbha and hence both the parties are now concentrating all their efforts on this area in the Assembly elections. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed his disapproval of Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar ) and Congress president Nana Patole will also be held in Vidarbha district.
There are a total of 62 seats in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, of which 35 seats are directly contested by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Shinde’s Shiv Sena is contesting against Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT) for 6 assembly seats and Ajit Pawar’s NCP is contesting against Sharad Pawar’s NCP (S) for 7 seats. In this way, it can be understood that the entire responsibility of the Congress and the BJP falls only on the Vidarbha region.
Vidarbha’s political equation
In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP won 44 of the 62 assembly seats in Vidarbha region. Shiv Sena won 4 seats, Congress 10 seats, NCP 1 seat and other 4 seats. After this, in the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 29 seats and the Shiv Sena won 4 seats in Vidarbha region. In Vidarbha, the Congress has 15 seats and the NCP 6 seats. In addition to this, 8 seats were won by others. In this way, the BJP has maintained its dominance in Maharashtra politics through the Vidarbha region.
The BJP has maintained control in Vidarbha region for the past decade, but with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the political landscape has changed. In the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA suffered a setback in Vidarbha region, while the Congress-led Alliance of India scored a political victory. Of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha region, the BJP won only two seats while the Congress won five seats. Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT) won 1 seat and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (S) won 1 seat. The Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde’s ally of the BJP, got only one seat.
A test for the BJP and Congress
The results of the Vidarbha district Lok Sabha elections have heightened political tensions for the BJP and provided a glimmer of hope for the Congress. The BJP has suffered setbacks since the 2019 assembly elections, losing 15 seats. Since then, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections have also dealt a big blow to the party. The Congress seemed to have succeeded in regaining lost political ground as Rahul Gandhi announced the Maharashtra assembly elections in Vidarbha, Nagpur. By raising issues of social justice, Rahul tried to resolve the political equation in Vidarbha.
The Vidarbha bastion that the BJP has been clinging to for the past decade has begun to crack, exacerbating political tensions for the BJP. Hence, even before the elections were announced, Prime Minister Modi gave many gifts to strengthen Vidarbha’s belt. The BJP understands that it cannot win the battle in Maharashtra without winning Vidarbha. For this purpose, the BJP is putting all its efforts into the Vidarbha belt.
Test from Fadnavis to Patole
In Vidarbha, not only the BJP and the Congress will be put to the test, but all senior leaders of the two parties will also be put to the test. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Pandavis, Opposition leader Vijay Wadetiwar, state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bhawankule, state Congress president Nana Patole and others The fate of many political stalwarts will be decided by the region. All these leaders harbor the dream of becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Apart from this, Union Minister Ramdas Atharwal will also be tested in Vidarbha district. Nagpur is the largest city in Vidarbha and the deputy capital of Maharashtra. The headquarters of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is located in Nagpur. In this way, the RSS also faces the challenge of maintaining the dominance of the BJP in Vidarbha.
Vidarbha’s caste equation
Politics in Vidarbha is decided by farmers, Dalits and tribal voters. Role of Dalit votes: The Dalit community, which has a large population in Vidarbha, is believed to play an important role in victory and defeat. There are many Ambedkarite parties in Maharashtra and their main base is in the Vidarbha region. The RPI of Ramdas Athawale’s party is with the BJP. The proportion of Dalit voters ranges from 23% to 36% in many seats in Vidarbha. The BJP has always benefited from keeping Atharwal in it, but Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has succeeded in linking the Dalit community to himself on the 2024 constitution and reservation issues.
In Vidarbha, there are two OBC communities, Kunbi and Teli, which are mainly divided between the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kunbi is considered the vote bank of the Congress, while Teli is considered the core vote bank of the BJP. The Congress relies on its traditional DMK (Dalit-Muslim-Kumbi) model, while the BJP is trying to unite the OBC, Micro OBC and Banjara communities. This makes the Vidarbha elections very interesting, whoever manages to solve the political equation, can his dominance remain intact?
