Nagpur: The battle between uncle and nephew from Pawar family was witnessed in Maharashtra during this Legislative Assembly elections. Vidarbha, too, witnessed a battle for space between Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) and NCP (Ajit Pawar).
In this battle, NCP (SP) failed to win even a single seat in Vidarbha while NCP (AP) won six seats. In the Assembly elections 2014, when there was a ‘Modi Wave’, the undivided NCP had managed to win only one seat in Vidarbha, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had put up an impressive show by winning 44 out of total 62 seats.
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In 2019, however, BJP tally came down to 29, and undivided NCP improved its tally to six. Since the previous Assembly election in 2019, Maharashtra’s political scene has changed drastically. The Assembly election this time was a litmus test for the split NCP and Shiv Sena both. As far as the battle between NCP (SP) and NCP (AP) in Vidarbha region was concerned, the Ajit Pawar faction emerged victorious.
NCP (SP) had fielded its candidates from 13 seats in Vidarbha. These included former minister Dr Rajendra Shingane from Sindkhed Raja, Salil Anil Deshmukh from Katol, Rameshchandra Bang from Hingna, Duneshwar Pethe from Nagpur East, Mayura Amar Kale from Arvi, Atul Wandile from Hinganghat, Charan Waghmare from Tumsar, Ravikant Bopche from Tirora, Sharad Maind from Pusad, Samrat Dongardive from Murtizapur, Gyayak Patni from Karanja, Girish Karale from Morshi, and Bhagyashree Dharmaraobaba Atram from Aheri.
However, it could not win even a single seat. NCP (SP) candidates lost to BJP at eight seats, and to NCP (AP) at three seats. In Aheri and Morshi, NCP (SP) candidates finished third. At several places, NCP (SP) candidates lost by a substantial margin indicating that they do not have a base or that their base has eroded over the past couple of elections.
In East Nagpur, NCP (SP) candidate Duneshwar Pethe lost by a huge margin of 1,15,288 to BJP’s Krishna Khopde. Incidentally, this was the highest margin in all 62 Assembly constituencies in Vidarbha. Sharad Maind of NCP (SP) lost to NCP (AP) candidate Indraneel Naik by a margin of 90,789 votes in Pusad constituency. BJP’s Sameer Meghe defeated NCP (SP) senior leader and former minister Rameshchandra Bang by a big margin of 78,931 votes in Hingna constituency. The narrowest margin by which the NCP (SP) candidate lost was 4,952 in Sindkhed Raja where Dr Rajendra Shingane lost to NCP (AP) candidate Manoj Kayande.
While the Sharad Pawar faction lost its ground in Vidarbha, Ajit Pawar faction of NCP captured it in the region. NCP (AP) candidates emerged victorious at six seats. These include Raju Karemore from Tumsar, Indraneel Naik from Pusad, Manoj Kayande from Sindkhed Raja, Rajkumar Badole (former BJP leader) from Arjuni Morgaon, minister Dharmaraobaba Atram from Aheri, and Sulabha Khodke from Amravati.
NCP (AP) candidate Devendra Bhuyar, however, lost the friendly fight with BJP’s Umesh Yawalkar in Morshi. Political observers felt that this was a direct result of undivided NCP’s stand relating to Statutory Development Board especially for Vidarbha, and apathy towards investing attention and energy in expanding the network of the party in the region.
Besides, the accusations of diversion of funds from Vidarbha to undivided NCP strongholds of Western Maharashtra also played their part over the years. The latest aspect is potential that NCP supporters see in Ajit Pawar expanding the party base in Vidarbha. How this changed situation takes shape, will be watched closely.
