The BJP-Shiv Sena won 41 of the 48 seats in the 2019 elections, but the Sena has since split and the majority of the Bal Thackeray-founded party is now allied with the BJP. The Nationalist Congress Party also parted ways with Ajit Pawar and joined the ruling alliance in the state, led by Eknath Shinde. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP emerged as the top party with 23 seats, followed by the undivided Sena with 18. The undivided NCP won four seats, the Congress one, while the AIMIM and an independent accounted for the remaining two.
A total of 9.2 million people, including more than 50,000 Hindus, are eligible to vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra, an increase of 34 lakh over 2019.
Konkan: The coastal region of the state includes Mumbai, the country’s commercial capital with six highly urbanized Lok Sabha seats, where issues include problems related to transport, housing and employment. The BJP-Sena had won 12 out of 13 seats in the region in 2019. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) could garner some sympathy after the split, other issues that all parties will have to contend with are plans to build a mega-refinery and nuclear power plant in the Ratnagiri region and a mega port in Palawan near Dahan.
Western Maharashtra: One of the most developed regions in the state, it is home to industrial cities with IT hubs as well as sugar mills, ethanol plants and agriculturally rich urban (land on the outskirts of a city or town where new homes and businesses are built) pockets. The region receives ample rainfall, but the unequal distribution of water between different regions is a traditional contention. The split in the NCP, a strong contender in the region, and the Shiv Sena means that the upcoming polls will focus on candidates as much on the party’s ideology as on the new arrangements. In 209 polls, the BJP won five seats, while the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-founded Nationalist Congress won three from the region.
North Maharashtra: The region, which is one of the country’s major sources of grapes and onions, has become the center of discontent over changes in export and import policies for agricultural products. Insufficient or unseasonal rain is another bad smell that can change the conversation. The region has a significant population of tribals and backward sections. In the 2019 elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena won all six seats in the region.
Marathwada: The region is notorious for its lack of adequate rainfall, which has left it less developed than other parts of Maharashtra, leading to unemployment problems. Unseasonal rains and crop failure are annual phenomena, resulting in growing discontent among farmers. Apart from the industrial hub of Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar (formerly Aurangabad), the rest of the area is rural and lacks basic amenities. Rapid construction of highways has boosted transportation. In 2019, the BJP won four Lok Sabha seats, followed by three for its ally Shiv Sena.
Aurangabad seat was won by AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi. Maratha Quota activist Manoj Jarang hails from Marathwada and has a following in the region as seen in his many rallies in the last few months. Vidarbha: Blessed with vast natural resources and forests, the region in the eastern part of the state is, however, in the limelight for farmer suicides.
Left-wing extremism is also a problem in some areas, especially in Gadcheroli. There are also human-wildlife conflicts in districts like Chandrapur, which is home to a significant number of tigers. Soybean and cotton crops that do not bring good income can create agricultural problems in the region.
Moreover, most MLAs from the region were the ones who retained their seats, which means they may face anti-incumbency in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Vidarbha, the BJP won five, the Shiv Sena three, while the Congress and an independent won one seat each in the last election.
