Map of Maharashtra with North Maharashtra highlighted.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nashik: Rebellion has hit the vegetable and fruit belt of North Maharashtra - with at least three former MPs in the fray in the region which will decide on the future political course of top OBC leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal and Eknath Khadse and tribal leaders including Vijaykumar Gavit and Narhari Zirwal.
The five districts of the region - Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nashik, and Ahilyanagar (Ahmednagar) - have a big agrarian belt and vast tribal areas spread over eight Lok Sabha seats and 47 Vidhan Sabha seats.
In the pre-2019 situation, the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front and the BJP-Shiv Sena saffron alliance were on an equal footing, however, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the region has six MPs from the Maha Vikas Aghadi Shiv Sena (UBT) 2, Congress 2, NCP (SP) 2 and Maha Yuti account for 2 seats both held by BJP.
“If one looks at a rebellion, North Maharashtra is the worst affected,” said independent political observer Vivek Bhavsar.
The four MPs who are contesting as rebels include Bhujbal’s nephew Sameer Bhujbal, a former Nashik MP, who is contesting from Nandgaon, Gavit’s daughter Dr Heena Gavit, a two-time Nandurbar MP, who is contesting from Akkalkuwa and AT Patil, former Jalgaon MP, who is contesting from Erandol.
Bhujbal Senior, who is from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is contesting from Yeola, which he has won for the last three terms. Sameer Bhujbal was keen to contest the Lok Sabha seat, however, was denied as the seat went to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Recently, Bhujbal’s son Pankaj Bhujbal, a former MLA, was made an MLC. In Nandgaon, Sameer is taking on Suhas Kande of Shiv Sena.
Gavit Senior is the BJP candidate from the Nandurbar seat.
His daughter, Heena resigned before the party could take action against her for contesting as an Independent.
Zirwal, who is the Deputy Speaker, and one of the senior tribal leaders is contesting the Dindori seat for NCP. He recently was in the news when he jumped onto the safety nets in Mantralaya to protest against any possible move of the Maha Yuti government to change the category of reservation of the Dhangar community from the Nomadic Tribes (C) category and include them in the STs.
From Ahmednagar, two senior leaders are contesting - Revenue Minister and BJP leader Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil from Shirdi and Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat from Sangamner.
Vikhe-Patil’s son Dr Sujay Vikhe-Patil lost the Lok Sabha elections to NCP (SP)’s Naresh Lanke from the Ahmednagar seat. Sujay is the grandson of Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil and great-grandson of Vithalrao Vikhe-Patil. The Vikhe-Patils are one of the prominent political families synonymous with Ahmednagar.
Vithalrao Vikhe-Patil was the founder of the first sugar factory in the cooperative sector in Loni.
Veteran politician Eknath Khadse, who switched over from BJP to NCP (SP), is expected to play a major role. Khadse, who was close to late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, was denied a ticket last time and instead, his daughter Rohini Khadse was fielded, who lost. Khadse, an OBC leader, was keen to return to the BJP, however, Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan blocked it. Khadse’s daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse is the Raver MP and a minister in the Narendra Modi government. His daughter Rohini Khadse, who is NCP(SP) women wing chief, is contesting from Muktainagar.
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.
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