Urban areas will play larger role in state polls

Urban areas in Maharashtra will play a bigger role in forming the next government in the state compared to the last assembly elections. Thanks to the delimitation exercise, the number of urban constituencies has gone up to 130, a jump of 30 seats over 2004.
The number of rural seats has come down from 188 to 158.

Urban issues in Mumbai and Thane may prove decisive in determining who reaches the half-way mark of 144, with the two cities accounting for 60, or 20%, of the 288 seats in the House.

Post-delimitation, Thane has 24 assembly segments, a rise of 11 seats. Though the number of seats in south Mumbai has come down from 17 to 10 after the redrawing of constituencies, the number in the suburbs has shot up from 17 to 26. The combined tally in the city stands at 36, an overall gain of two seats over 2004.

In the 2004 elections, Mumbai (34) and Thane (13) accounted for 47 seats.
Elsewhere in the state, the number of urban seats has gone up by three each in Pune and Aurangabad, two each in Nashik and Kolhapur and one each in Jalgaon, Dhule, Akola, Amravati, Nagpur, Nanded and Latur.

With three additional seats each, Pune now has 21 assembly segments, while Auranga-bad’s tally has gone up to 10. Nashik has been divided into Nashik ‘east’, ‘central’ and ‘west’, while Jalgaon, Dhule, Latur and Akola segments have been split into ‘city’ and ‘rural’ seats, creating urban vote-banks there. Nanded, too, has two urban seats of ‘north’ and ‘south’, unlike 2004 where it had one seat.

On the other hand, Kolhapur has lost two rural seats. Sindhudurg, Beed, Sangli and Satara have lost one rural segment each. The delimitation, based on the 2001 census, has evoked mixed reactions from political parties, which have been forced to redraw their strategies.

While state BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said it will create a better balance between urban and rural constituencies, his NCP counterpart RR Patil said the rural parts of the state will now have a lesser say in decision-making.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray has already blamed rapid urbanisation for the unchecked migration from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. “What explanation can one give when the number of [rural] seats in Kolhapur and Sangli decline, whereas the numbers are swelling in Thane and suburban Mumbai?” he asked.

Arguing that urbanisation was a global phenomenon, Congress spokesperson Hussain Dalwai said urban constituencies mean “the fruits of economic progress” have reached rural parts of the state.

Economist Girish Vasudev, however, feels that more urban constituencies are not a sign of prosperity. The current state of rural areas “does not support this logic,” he said.