Why Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra hold the key to BJP’s 2024 victory ?

 

 

As the voting for the State Assembly elections draw near, Vidarbha and Western Maharashtra have been seen as the center of intense political rivarly. These two battlegrounds used to be very loyal to the Congress party for years, but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has gained a lot of support with its impressive performance in the past decade. As the election is happening just five months after the General elections, the fight will be tough between Mahayuti (BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde) and NCP-AP), and Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which includes the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP-SP, and Congress. Both sides have been working hard to convince people to vote for them. Vidarbha has 62 Assembly seats and is an important location for both the BJP and Congress. It was once a stronghold of Congress, but in 2014 the political dynamics of the region changed and the BJP made big gains as it won 44 out of 62 seats. However, the BJP’s support dropped in 2019 and they won only 29 seats while Congress managed to win 15 seats.

 

 

This showed that Congress was slowly regaining its popularity in Vidarbha. For the 2024 elections, the BJP has fielded 47 candidates in Vidarbha and is trying hard to keep its strong position with focus on their development work and popular schemes including ‘Ladki Bahin Yojana’ to attract voters. On the other hand, Congress and their allies in the MVA talking about farmers’ distress, unemployment and projects shifted to Gujarat. Another key region is West Maharashtra, which has 58 Assembly seats and is another important area for both the BJP and Congress.

 

This region includes big cities like Pune and Nashik. In 2014, the BJP did well as it won 24 out of 36 seats. But in 2019, their number dropped to 20 seats as Congress regained some of its grounds. In 2024, the BJP has fielded 32 candidates in West Maharashtra and will focus on issues like city infrastructure, education, and the schemes launched by their government. The MVA has strong local leaders and support in this region and will try to hold onto their power with their key issues. In both regions, the competition will be tough, and the results of these elections will help decide who yields the power in Maharashtra for the coming years.