Lok Sabha Elections: In Vidarbha, do-or-die fight for BJP; Congress tries hard to restore its lost ground

For the BJP, if the elections in Vidarbha is akin to a “do-or-die” battle, the Congress sees it as a challenge to recapture its lost turf. Also in the fray are two factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP that will be part of the Mahayuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). In a departure from the previous elections, Mahayuti and MVA will graduate from two to three partners alliances.

Sixty four years ago, the Vidarbha region, which was then part of Central Province and Berar, was merged into Maharashtra through the famous Nagpur pact where an undertaking was given to hold six weeks winter session every year and ensure holistic development. While both these promises have been broken many times by successive governments, the Vidarbha region encompassing 10 Lok Sabha seats and 62 assembly segments will be crucial for mainstream ruling and opposition parties in the 2024 elections.

Vidarbha politics

Politically, the region is divided into Eastern Vidarbha and Western Vidarbha. While the Eastern Vidarbha region covers Nagpur, Chandrapur, Bhandara-Gondia, Wardha, Ramtek, Gadchiroli-Chimur, the Western Vidarbha region encompasses Buldhana, Akola, Amravati, Yavatmal-Washim.

From Naxal belt to farmers distress, each constituency in the region has its distinct characteristics. Maharashtra’s second capital Nagpur houses the RSS headquarters. It also has the “Zero Mile”, which is the centre point of India, and Wardha constituency in the neighborhood was the karmabhoomi of Mahatma Gandhi. At Ramtek, the pilgrimage town, renowned poet Kalidas composed the Meghadoot.

In 2019, the BJP led the polls by winning five seats — Wardha, Nagpur, Gadchiroli-Chimur, Bhandara-Gondia, Akola. In terms of assembly segments, out of total 62, BJP won 29, Shiv Sena 4, NCP 6 and Congress 15 and others 8. Yet, BJP’s tally was down by one in Lok Sabha from 2014 to six to five in 2019. In assembly also it held 44 in 2014, which came down to 29 seats.
The undivided Shiv Sena, which was an alliance partner bagged three seats — Ramtek, Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim.

The Congress managed to win just one seat — Chandrapur. However, its MP Balu Dhanorkar passed away in May 2023. The undivided NCP, which did not win any seat, had given support to independent candidate Navneet Rana in Amravati seat.

When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the decision to make Nana Patole the MPCC president, the stated objective was the party’s focus on Vidarbha. The Congress reckoned Vidarbha, which was its stronghold for five decades from1960 to 2004, should be regained at any cost. This was evident as the party appointed opposition leader Vijay Waddetiwar from Chandrapur (also in Vidarbha). From one seat in 2019, the party has set the ambitious target to win at least five  seats with its allies.

In the past two elections, Thackeray Sena had relied on BJP to deliver results in Vidarbha. Now, with a divided house, it remains to be seen whether it retains its constituencies with Congress help. Undivided NCP ( Sharad Pawar) had an electoral base in parts of Bhandara-Gondia, Buldhana and Amravati and Gadchiroli. With former union minister Praful Patel and minister Dharmarao Baba Atram switching over to Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Sharad Pawar faction will have a tough time.

Playing to win

The candidature of Gadkari from Nagpur was a foregone conclusion. Gadkari, who hails from Nagpur, contested from the seat twice successfully in 2014 and 2019. The leader who has earned the tag of “Highway Man” believes, “people will vote on development plank”.

Upset with the defeat in Chandrapur in 2019, the BJP tactically decided to field a senior cabinet minister for forest , Mungantiwar. Although Mungantiwar had conveyed to the central leadership his desire to continue work in Maharashtra politics, he accepted the task assigned, “I was never reluctant. I just felt I had a lot more work left to complete in Maharashtra.”

Despite some power tussle over the choice of seat, the BJP, which is playing the role of a big brother, is willing to accommodate concerns of its alliance partners in Vidarbha, which will go to polls in the first two phases. While the Shinde faction is likely to retain Yavatmal-Washim and Ramtek, the BJP is eyeing Bhandara-Gondia and Amravati. In Gadchiroli-Chimur, where the BJP has sitting MP Ashok Nete, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) is vying for its cabinet minister Dharmarao Baba Atram.

State BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “Vidarbha is our best bet. Our optimism is based on the Vidarbha transformation undertaken by the leadership in the Centre and state.”

The Vidarbha region where cotton and soybean are main crop along with highest orange cultivation accounting upto 30 per cent of the country’s production, financial distress of small and marginal farmers have always been a cause of concern. .

Almost six districts out of total 11 in Vidarbha have been categorised as distress districts since 2004-05. The Vidarbha region, which became infamous for the highest number farm suicides, led to the steady decline of Congress-NCP from the mid-2000. Once the Congress’ forte, Vidarbha helped the BJP make deep inroads as it emphatically used agrarian crisis to question the then Congress-NCP regime. The BJP also whipped the separate statehood for Vidarbha agenda when it was in opposition from 1990s to 2014.  In 2014, when Devendra Fadnavis became the chief minister, leading the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition, the statehood issue was put on hold as its alliance partner was against it.

Congress president Nana Patole, said: “The massive unrest with farmers who have been subjected to  recurring natural calamities will go against the BJP.”

The Maratha reservation politics that led to sharp polarisation between Marathas and OBCs is also bound to have some impact on elections this time around.