Apart from the landslide victory in the 2024 assembly polls, the big win in the Vidarbha region is the icing on the cake for Mahayuti comprising the BJP, Shinde Sena and the NCP (Ajit Pawar). The remarkable tally of 49 out of 62 seats in Vidarbha has surely given the alliance something more to cheer about.
The BJP has bagged 38 seats, a good improvement from the 29 it won in the last elections. The results have come as a huge surprise for poll pundits of every hue as the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which was expecting a clean sweep in Vidarbha, had to bite dust. Top leaders of the grand old party and Uddhav Sena have tumbled, while the NCP (SP) has been totally wiped out.
At least in 35 of the 62 seats in this region, the BJP and the Congress were in one-on-one fights. Once again it has been proved that in direct contests the BJP gets the better of the Congress. However, the latter’s state president and aspiring chief minister, Nana Patole, was saved from embarrassment in the Sakoli constituency and won by 208 votes against the BJP’s Avinash Brahmankar.
Among other stalwarts who lost badly are former state Congress chief M.krao Thakre from the Digras seat in Yavatmal, who was defeated by Sanjy Rathod of Shinde Sena. In the Teosa constituency of the Amravati district, Yashomati Thakur, believed to be a core member of team Rahul Gandhi, also lost. In the final tally of Vidarbha, the BJP got 38 seats, Congress nine, Shinde Sena four, NCP (Ajit) six and Sena (UBT) four.
MVA was on cloud nine as it had hoped to repeat its Lok Saha elections performance when it had won seven seats out of total 10 segments in Vidarbha, while Mahayuti was victorious in the remaining three. The BJP could win only two seats : Nagpur (Nitin Gadkari) and Akola (Anup Dhotre), while Shinde Sena’s Pratapsinh Jadhav had bagged the Buldhana seat.
In a surprising turn, the NCP (SP), which had secured one Lok Sabha seat (Wardha) from the region in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, failed to win any assembly segments since its inception in 1999. In the just-concluded polls, the NCP (SP) had fielded candidates in three constituencies within Nagpur district alone – Hingna, Nagpur East and Katol. The assault drama staged by former minister .l Deshmukh to get sympathy for his son, Salil, proved to be a damp squib as the latter was defeated by BJP’s Charansinh Thakur with a comfortable margin.
The 2014 assembly elections were also notable for the fact that all four major parties contested independently, allowing each to fully test its strength. Back then, the BJP won 44 seats, which helped Devendra Fadnavis to head the BJP-Sena government and successfully complete a full term as the CM. However, in 2019, the BJP’s tally dipped to 29 seats in Vidarbha, which weakened its bargaining power in the pre-poll alliance with the undivided Sena. The loss of 15 seats diminished the party’s leverage, ultimately leading to the collapse of the alliance over disagreements regarding the CM’s post.
Historically, Vidarbha has been the Congress’ bastion, which maintained a significant influence over the region for four decades till 1990. However, after that the BJP made deep inroads in the region and dominates its political landscape now. Following the debacle in these polls, the Congress has been completely wiped out from the Gondia, Bhandara, Amravati, Buldhana districts.
Among the notable winners in this election is Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who secured his sixth term by defeating his Congress rival, Praful Gudadhe-Patil, in Nagpur South-West, with a margin exceeding 30,000 votes. Similarly, state BJP Chief Chandrasekhar Bawankule successfully retained the Kamptee seat. He was denied a ticket in the 2019 elections when the BJP fielded rural leader Tekchand Savarkar, who drove to victory.
In the Aheri constituency, NCP candidate Dharmababa Atram triumphed over his nearest rival, Bhagyashree Atram, who is his daughter and contested as an NCP (SP) nominee in a triangular contest. Former minister, Ambarish Atram, who was denied a ticket this time, ran as a rebel from the same constituency. Assembly Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar managed to retain his Brahmapuri seat by a narrow margin.
RSS watcher Dilip Deodhar said that the cohesive BJP campaign – led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and very well-managed by Fadnavis – could exceed expectations because of the major role of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Not only the RSS cadres fanned out across the region for campaigns, but Sangh got a valid reason to polarise voters.
The Hindu vote consolidation was done successfully, thanks to Islamic scholar Moulana Sajjad Nom.’s direct call (fatwa) to defeat all Mahayuti candidates. The Ulema Council’s ill-timed letter to the Congress leadership, raising 17 demands that the party accepted, also proved counter-productive. Rahul Gandhi’s call for caste census was also seen as an attempt to divide people, while Modi’s loud and clear call of “Ek hai toh safe hai” won the day for the BJP.
