05 June,2024 07:15 AM IST | Mumbai | Dipti Singh
The Maha Vikas Aghadi won seven seats handing a blow to the BJP led Mahayuti alliance. File pic/PTI
The BJP-led Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra faced a huge setback in Vidarbha, a region that was once its stronghold, with the Congress making a noticeable comeback following a neck-and-neck fight with the saffron camp. Of the 10 seats in Vidarbha, the BJP and its coalition partners won three.
Nagpur and Akola were won by the BJP while Buldhana was won by Shiv Sena (Shinde). The BJP-led NDA had won all 10 seats in 2014 and nine in 2019.
In Vidarbha, five of the 10 seats witnessed direct Congress-BJP faceoffs. Spread across 11 districts, the Vidarbha region has 10 Lok Sabha seats and comprises almost 20 per cent of Maharashtra's population. Once a Congress stronghold, Vidarbha has been under the control of the saffron alliance since 2014. Amidst the internal tug-of-war between the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), alliances over seat-sharing, parties have been scrambling for months to strengthen their positions.
The political scene during the first and second phases of elections in the Vidarbha region considered a power centre in Maharashtra, indicated a shift in favour of the MVA.
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In Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, two-time sitting MP and BJP stalwart Nitin Gadkari reclaimed his bastion by defeating Congress's Vikas Thakre, an MLA from Nagpur West, president of Nagpur District Congress Committee, and a former mayor in close fight by a margin of 13,65,65.
Nagpur is also the hometown of BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, making it a stronghold of the BJP.
Gadkari had confidently stated that he would secure the seat by a margin of five lakh votes. While he could not achieve what he claimed, her did win the contest to help keep the presence of the BJP in the Vidarbha region.
Reluctant to fight from the seat initially, BJP's six-term MLA Sudhir Mungantiwar jumped into the battle ring and lost. Reclaiming the seat that was once won by her husband Congress's Pratibha Dhanorkar, the MLA from Warora emerged as the winner. Chandrapur was the lone seat in Maharashtra that Congress won in 2019, under the leadership of Suresh alias Balu Dhanorkar, who unfortunately passed away in May 2023.
Following the defeat of veteran BJP leader Hansraj Ahir in the last election, the party nominated Mungantiwar, the state Forest Minister, to contest for the seat.
In the 2019 elections, Suresh Dhanorkar emerged victorious from Chandrapur, securing 5,59,507 votes and defeating four-time MP Hansraj Ahir, who secured 5,14,744 votes.
Confident of victory since the beginning Dhanorkar fought through tooth and nail within the party to get the ticket from the seat and defeated BJP heavyweight Mungantiwar with a significant margin of 2,30,533.
Ramtek is a seat that former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao had represented in 1984 and 1989. This time the contest was between Sena's Raju Parve and Congress's Shyamrao Barve. For the last two terms, 2014 and 2019, the seat was represented by Krupal Tumhane of Shiv Sena (Shinde), however, the BJP had opposed his name for the contest and Raju Parve was nominated.
Tumhane's supporters now blame the BJP for this decision which they said led to the coalition's defeat. Barve meanwhile clinched the victory with a margin of 62,560 following a neck-to-neck contest.
Initially, the Congress had fielded Rashmi Barve. But her nomination was rejected over caste validity. As a result, her husband, Shyamrao Barve, became the official party candidate and a winner thereafter. The Barve couple are said to be close to Congress stalwart Sunil Kedar. Kedar is now seen as the sole driving force leading to Barve's victory.
In 2019, Kishore Gajbiye was the official Congress candidate from Ramtek against then-undivided Shiv Sena candidate Krupal Tumhane, who won the seat. Tumane emerged as the winner, securing 5,97,126, while his closest rival Gajbhiye secured 4,70,343.
In Bhandara-Gondia constituency the incumbent BJP MP, Sunil Mendhe, known for his clean image, was facing Dr Prashant Padole of the Congress. Padole, a newcomer to politics and a relative of Congress state president Nana Patole, received the ticket after Patole declined to contest.
After 25 years, the Congress fielded a candidate, Prashant Padole, in the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Vidarbha region.
In the last 25 years, the Congress always played the role of an alliance partner, leaving the Bhandara-Gondia constituency to the undivided NCP led by Sharad Pawar, with senior leader and former Union minister Praful Patel becoming the face of the Congress-NCP in Bhandara-Gondia.
After the split in the NCP, Patel has aligned with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's faction. Having fielded a candidate this time, Bhandara-Gondia, which is the paddy belt of Vidarbha, was a litmus test for the Congress, which the party has managed to pass with flying colours.
In the 2019 elections, Mendhe secured victory for the BJP with a significant margin of 1,97,394 votes, gathering a total of 6,50,243 votes. He defeated NCP's Panchabudhe Nana Jairam, who received 4,52,849 votes. However, in a reverse from the trend in 2019, Mendhe managed to get only 377681 against Padole who emerged as a winner with 397512 votes.
In this seat, which is part of the Red Corridor, the BJP made its third attempt to secure a win but failed. Notable candidates in the 2024 Gadchiroli-Chimur Lok Sabha Constituency were Ashok Madhavrao Nete from the BJP, Dr Namdeo Dasaram Kirsan from the Indian National Congress, Nete, a two-time incumbent MP, faced competition from Kirsan, a former Maharashtra government employee who is relatively new to politics. Kirsan's affiliation with Vijay Wadettiwar, the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly representing the Chimur seat, added a political dynamic to the race and helped Kirsan emerge victorious.
The credit for the win can be given to Wadettiwar, who was the driving force behind Kirsan's election campaign. The party did not send any start campaigner at the national level to any of Kirsan's rallies and roadshows. Throughout the campaign, Wadettiwar was present on almost every road trip and rally with Kirsan in the Naxalite-affected constituency
In the 2019 elections, Nete secured victory for the BJP with a significant margin of 77,526 votes, gathering a total of 5,19,968 votes. He defeated Dr Namdeo Dalluji Usendi of the INC, who received 4,42,442 votes.
The situation turned in favour of Congress in 2024 with Kirsan securing 582455 votes against Nete, who bagged. 4,53,850 votes.
The Yavatmal-Washim constituency exemplified the pressures of the seat-sharing process. However now many are wondering if setting aside five-time Shiv Sena MP Bhavana Gawali a decision met with discontent within the Shinde-led party was a huge mistake. As per sources, Incumbent Gawli was denied a ticket from the seat owing to opposition from the BJP and prevailing anti-incumbency sentiments.
In her place, the Shiv Sena nominated Rajashree Patil, wife of the former Hingoli MP Hemant Patil. Patil faced Shiv Sena UBT candidate Sanjay Deshmukh who successfully clinched a clean victory from the seat with a margin of 86198 votes.
In the 2019 general election, Sena candidate Bhavana Pundlikrao Gawali secured victory with a margin of 1,17,939 votes, garnering a total of 5,42,098 votes. Gawali defeated Thakre Manikrao Govindrao of the INC, who received 4,24,159 votes.
A historically significant constituency, traditionally aligned with Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, witnessed an unprecedented absence of Congress participation. Amar Kale, a former congress MLA from the region, aligned himself with the NCP (SP), and emerged as the party's nominee, handpicked by Pawar himself. NCP, which previously conceded this seat to Congress, not only secured it but relinquished its claims on other constituencies. The move now seems to be a major turning point.
NCP leaders had since the beginning said that they aimed to unseat the two-term BJP incumbent, Ramdas Tadas, who clinched victory in 2019 with 578,364 votes, outpacing Congress's Charulata Tokas, who garnered 391,173 votes.
Making Sharad Pawar's calculations true, Kale managed to win the seat with a margin of 38977. Kale secured 27,99,99 votes as against BJP candidate Tadas who secured 24,1022.
Congress's Balwant Wankhade emerged victorious in the Amravati Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra, overcoming a tough challenge from BJP candidate Navneet Rana. Wankhade won by a margin of over 15,000 votes, securing a significant win for the Congress party.
Amravati was one of the most riveting and closely watched contests amongst the 10 seats in the Vidarbha region. Actor-turned-politician Navneet Rana, who secured victory in the 2019 elections as an Independent with NCP support, contested as BJP's candidate facing fierce internal opposition in the Mahayuti Coalition. The BJP's decision to deny the seat to Shiv Sena has caused discontent among Shinde's aide Anand Adsul, a five-time representative of the constituency.
On the other hand, the Congress had nominated Balwant Wankhede, an MLA from the Daryapur assembly constituency backed by Congress leader Yashomati Thakur.
Bachchu Kadu, founder of the Prahar Janshakti Party and a part of the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition, too nominated his candidate Dinesh Bub who emerged a second runner-up by securing 77,922 votes.
Buldhana, renowned as the powerhouse of state politics, showcased an intriguing showdown between Shiv Sena's Prataprao Jadhav and Prof Narendra Khedekar of Shiv Sena (UBT), making it a closely watched contest.
Jadhav, now aligned with Shinde's faction, has won the contest with a margin of 29,376 votes and is now geared up for a fourth term.
In the 2019 elections, Jadhav secured victory with 5,21,977 votes, defeating NCP's Dr Rajendra Shingare, who received 3,88,690 votes.
Incumbent Jadhav, representing Sena (Shinde), had openly announced ahead of polls that he doesn't see a significant threat from Khedekar, the candidate from Sena (UBT). Jadhav has predicted that Khedekar might face challenges due to a potential vote split with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi on one side and a farmer leader eating into the MVA's share on the other which turned out to be true and a key factor in Jadhav's victory.
Jadhav emerged victorious for the fourth time by securing 348238 votes, Khedekar on the other hand bagged 3,18,862 votes.
Keeping in the legacy of his father, BJP candidate Anup Dhotre emerged the winner from the Akola seat amid a tight contest between Prakash Ambedkar, former two-time Lok Sabha MP and former Rajya Sabha member on one side and Dr Abhay Patil of the Congress, the party's general secretary, and an orthopaedic surgeon by profession on the other.
In the 2019 election, Sanjay Dhotre clinched victory with 5,54,444 votes, defeating Prakash Ambedkar, who secured 2,78,848 votes.
However, in 2024, Dhotre managed to reclaim the seat with 4,57,030 votes winning with a margin of 40,626, defeating Congress's Abhay Patil who secured 4,00,024.
10
Total no of seats in Vidarbha
NAGPUR
Nitin Gadkari
(BJP) - winner
6,50,769 (+ 1,36,565)
Vikas Thakre (Congress)
5,14,204
CHANDRAPUR
Pratibha Dhanorkar (Congress) winner
6,40,780 (+ 2,30,533)
Sudhir Mungantiwar (BJP)
410247
RAMTEK
Shyamrao Barve (Congress) winner
4,76,658 (+ 62,560)
Raju Parve (BJP)
4,14,098
BHANDARA-GONDIA
Sunil Mendhe (BJP)
3,77,681
Dr Prashant Padole (Congress) Leading
3,97,512 (+ 19,831)
GADCHIROLI-CHIMUR
Ashok Nete (BJP)
4,53,850
Dr Kirsan Namdeo (Congress) Leading
5,82,455 (+ 1,28,605)
YAVATMAL-WASHIM
Sanjay Deshmukh
(Shiv Sena-UBT) Leading
5,46,739 (+ 86,198)
Rajshree Patil- Mahalle (Shiv Sena- Eknath Shinde)
46,0541
WARDHA
Ramdas Tadas (BJP)
2,41,022
Amar Kale
(NCP-SP) winner
2,79,999 (+ 38977)
AMRAVATI
Balwant Wankhede (Congress) Leading
4,26,434 (+ 11899)
Navneet Rana (BJP)
4,14,535
BULDHANA
Prataprao Jadhav
(Shiv Sena- Eknath Shinde) Winner
3,48,238 (+ 29,376)
Prof. Narendra Khedekar (Shiv Sena-UBT)
3,18,862
AKOLA
Anup Dhotre (BJP) winner
4,57,030 (+ 40626)
Abhay Patil (Congress)
4,16,404
