Why Vidarbha Remains At The Heart Of Mahayuti-MVA Power Battle?

Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024 feature intense competition between ruling Mahayuti alliance and opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.

Image: ANI

Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024: The intense campaigning for the Maharashtra assembly elections concluded on November 18 and people voted on November 20 to elect representatives for all 288 seats in the state assembly. The outcome of the elections is scheduled to be announced on November 23, marking a significant moment in Maharashtra's political landscape.

Maharashtra's political landscape is divided into six distinct regions generally, including Marathwada, Vidarbha, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Mumbai and the Thane-Konkan. Each region has its unique cultural, geographical, and economic characteristics, contributing to the state's diversity and complexity in terms of politics, development and identity.

Vidarbha region located in the eastern part of Maharashtra, consists of 11 districts and 62 Assembly seats. This region spread across Maoist-affected Gadchirroli to Nagpur. The area is also known for cotton production but is often perceived as underdeveloped compared to the western and coastal regions of the state. 

In the 2014 Assembly elections, the BJP secured 44 out of 62 seats in Vidarbha, while the Congress won 10. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance, led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, completed its five-year term in power.

In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 29 seats, while the Congress secured 15 in Vidarbha. The BJP-Shiv Sena alliance initially formed the majority but the coalition soon dissolved which led to a period of political crisis in Maharashtra.

Historically a Congress stronghold over Vidarbha regions but later in the 1990s BJP make inroads. In the assembly election 2024, political heavyweights from both alliances, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule, and state Congress president Nana Patole, are contesting from the region.

In this recent elections, The BJP in alliance with Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena under the ruling Mahayuti is contesting against the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance which consists of Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP-SP and the Congress.