Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole (right) and Maharashtra Dy CM Devendra Fadnavis.
Credit: PTI Photos
Mumbai: The central Indian region of Vidarbha - which was once a Congress stronghold slowly became an arena of the BJP. However, for the saffron party, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls were a shocker in this vast geographical region spread in two revenue divisions of Nagpur and Amravati as the Congress made a tremendous comeback.
Vidarbha has 10 Lok Sabha seats and 62 Vidhan Sabha constituencies.
Little here and there could make or break fortunes.
This is also the region where there is a demand for statehood, however, in the last decade, the agitation has weakened.
Vidarbha region houses Wardha, where the Sevagram Ashram is situated, the residence of Mahatma Gandhi from 1936 to his death in 1948. Gandhiji decided to make a village in Central India his headquarters and he came to Wardha in 1934, at the invitation of businessman-philanthropist Jamnalal Bajaj - and established Sevagram, the village of service.
The adjoining district of Nagpur houses the headquarters of RSS, the ideological parent of BJP. Popularly known as Doctorji, Keshav Baliram Hegdewar founded RSS in Nagpur with the ideology of Hindutva and goal of creation of Hindu Rashtra.
Ramtek is the place where Kalidas wrote Meghdoot.
The Gadchiroli district is affected by Naxalism and is used by Maoists to oscillate between Telangana and Chhattisgarh.
Incidentally, Vidarbha was the first region to be affected by the agrarian crisis where large number of farmers have died by suicide.
The three BJP stalwarts who are contesting are - Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (Nagpur South West), state BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule (Kamtee) and state Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar (Ballarpur)
The BJP, which had in 2019 Lok Sabha, five seats were reduced to two in 2024 - Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur) and Anup Dhotre (Akola). Now Congress has five seats - thus levelling the score.
Congress veterans - state party chief Nana Patole (Sakoli) and Leader of the Opposition in Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar (Brahmapuri) are likely to get the tickets.
Vidarbha in numbers
Total districts: 11
Nagpur, Bhandara, Wardha, Chandrapur, Gondia, Gadchiroli, Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Washim
Credit: DH Infographics
Credit: DH Infographics
Credit: DH Infographics
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.