Farmers, Dalits, Marathas hold the key in rural Maharashtra
The outcome in six of the eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, up for voting in the second phase of the Lok Sabha election on April 26, is likely to mirror the sentiments of farmers, Dalits, and Marathas in the primarily rural State.
The eight constituencies are Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal-Washim, Buldhana, and Wardha in the Vidarbha region and Nanded, Parbhani and Hingoli in Marathwada, both regions of rural distress in the western State.
Barring Amravati, which was clinched by the actorturned-Independent MP Navneet Kaur-Rana, the rest were won by the BJPShiv Sena alliance in 2019. This time around, Congress candidates are in fray in almost all the seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and several top leaders from the Congress have campaigned in these regions.
In Vidarbha and Marathwada, a signicant population of Dalit and Maratha voters, including large and small-scale farmers, are said to be disenchanted with the current administration over various issues, including reservation. Vidarbha (1,439 cases) recorded the highest number of farmer suicides in 2023, followed by Marathwada (1,088), show data from the State Relief and Rehabilitation Department. Cotton, soybean, and sugar cane are the primary crops in these areas, which consistently report the highest number of farmer suicides in the country annually due to crop failures.
Interesting contests
This time, the election has thrown up an interesting contest as Ms. Rana is contesting as a candidate from the ruling BJP, sparking strong resentment among local party leaders and those of the Shiv Sena Eknath Shinde faction and Independent MLA Bacchu Kadu.
It has emerged as a three-cornered contest for the seat, which is reserved for the Scheduled Castes, with the Congress elding sitting MLA Balwant Wankhede and Mr. Kadu-backed Dinesh Bub.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, is contesting from Akola, where also a three-way contest has emerged, with the Congress, a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), giving ticket to Abhay Patil, a Maratha, unlike in in 2014 and 2019 when the party had elded a Muslim nominee — Hidayatulla Patel. The BJP has nominated Anup Dhotre, son of sitting MP Sanjay Dhotre who won the seat in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Once a stronghold of the Congress, the Akola constituency in west Vidarbha boasted inuential leaders like Vasant Sathe, who served as a Union Minister from 1980 to 1982. With the exceptions of 1996 and 1999, when Mr. Prakash Ambedkar was elected MP; the BJP has maintained its dominance in the constituency.
Litmus test for Chavan Nanded, which shares a lengthy boundary with Telangana, is another battleground to keep an eye on in the second phase. The victory of the BJP’s incumbent MP, Prataprao Chikhalikar Patil, will serve as a test for two-time Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who recently switched allegiance to the BJP, breaking ties with the grand old party that his family had long been associated with. Mr. Chavan was defeated by Mr. Chikhalikar in the 2019 election by a margin of over 40,000 votes, and now he is actively campaigning for the latter. Amravati, Akola, and Nanded boast signicant numbers of Dalit, Maratha, and Muslim voters.
Maratha reservation, split in the Sena and NCP, ination, the farm crisis, water scarcity, healthcare, connectivity, and employment opportunities are signicant electoral concerns in these areas.
While topics such as the Ram Mandir and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image garner more attention in urban centres, particularly the district headquarters, these are less discussed in the rural regions, mirroring a broader pattern seen across several constituencies in the State, which sends 48 MPs to Lok Sabha, the largest number after Uttar Pradesh’s 80.
The seats going to the polls are from Vidarbha and Marathwada, both regions of rural distress in the State