In an attempt to address these problems, particularly those pertaining to Vidarbha, Marathwada, and North Maharashtra, Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit the state on Tuesday. There have been rumors of fighting among the ruling NDA partners in Maharashtra over seat-sharing in addition to internal BJP disagreements.
Shah’s visit occurs a few days after the BJP unveiled its initial list of 195 candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, which did not include a single Maharashtra contender. Shah would attend pre-poll and strategy meetings in Akola, Vidarbha, a youth summit in Jalgaon, North Maharashtra, and a public rally in Sambhajinagar, Marathwada, during his day-long tour.
It appears that the Mahayuti partners, the BJP, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and the NCP (Ajit Pawar), are at odds over the Amravati seat, which is now held by Independent MP Navneet Rana. Despite Rana’s admission that she will run for office on a BJP ticket, the Supreme Court is still considering a case involving her alleged use of “fraudulent means” to get a SC certificate. In addition, Buldhana and the Shinde Sena are eager to run for the place. The BJP is having problems choosing its candidates in Chandrapur. State Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, an OBC, was the BJP’s first choice for the race. However, some party insiders think that a candidate from the powerful Kunbi group would improve the party’s chances.
The BJP, which has set an ambitious goal for the NDA to win 45 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats, views Vidarbha, which contains 10 seats—Nagapur, Bhandara-Gondia, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Wardha, Ramtek, Buldhana, Yavatmal-Washim, Wardha, and Akola—as being vital. It had taken five seats from the area in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while its ally, the Shiv Sena, which is still united, won three.
Shah is scheduled to speak at a youth conclave in Jalgaon, according to insiders, because the BJP considers this demographic to be a significant portion of its support base. The Lok Sabha seats in North Maharashtra are held by Jalgaon, Raver, Dindori, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Shirdi, and Ahmednagar. The ruling alliance is finding this region challenging as well, as Republican Party of India (Athawale), one of its constituents, is contesting in the SC-reserved Shirdi constituency. The BJP secured six seats and the Sena secured two, allowing the NDA to sweep the area in 2019.
The Shinde Sena and the BJP are vying for Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad), a seat in Marathwada where the ongoing Maratha quota controversy is expected to play a significant role in the elections. Following a rift in the party, prominent Sena leader Chandrakant Khaire sided with Uddhav Thackeray, the head of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray). Imtiaz Jaleel of AIMIM won the seat in 2019. Although the BJP believes it has a greater chance of winning here, sources claimed the Shinde Sena has been adamant on running for the seat. They continued, saying, “Shah’s visit will cover all of these matters, and they will all be resolved.”
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