Winning Marathwada could be an uphill task for the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
Winning Marathwada could be an uphill task for the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance. In 2004, the combine won six out of eight seats (Aurangabad and Parbhani for the Sena, while Jalna, Nanded, Latur and Osmanabad for the BJP), but two factors could defeat it this time —- a lack of unity within the party and the good performance of the Congress in the region.
Though the Congress-NCP alliance could just manage to win two seats in the last elections (NCP took Hingoli and Beed and the Congress drew a blank), several factors are in their favour this time. In the past five years, the Congress-ruled state government had promoted the industrial development of the region.
This, and the delimitation, could change the fortunes of the alliance. For example, the Latur constituency (represented seven times by former Union home minister Shivraj Patil ), has seen a lot of growth in the past few years, but is now a ‘reserved’ seat. Adjoining Osmanabad, which had been a reserved seat for over 28 years, is now an open seat. Thus, this time election may throw up some real surprises.
Sensing that this could be its best chance, the Congress-NCP combine has started hectic campaigning in all constituencies with a determination to end the 20-year domination of the Sena-BJP. Unwilling to cede control, the Sena-BJP is going from door to door in an effort to retain the seats captured in the last Lok Sabha election.
However, winning would be easy for any of the two dominant alliances. That’s because of the presence of candidates put up by the BSP, the SP, the MNS and the RPI (Prakash Ambedkar). Besides, there’s a large presence of independents. The multi-cornered fights could produce unexpected twists and make the going tough for the Sena-BJP and Congress-NCP alliances.
The going won’t be easy, even for a seasoned politician as BJP general secretary Gopinath Munde, who is contesting from Beed. His trusted lieutenants have deserted him before the elections, at a time when he needed them most, and he’s missing the presence of his mentor, the late Pramod Mahajan.
The Congress-NCP too has its share of troubles, mostly over seat-sharing. While former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh of the Congress wanted to keep the Osmanabad seat for a party candidate, NCP chief Sharad Pawar put his foot down. Ultimately the Maratha strongman got senior leader Padmasinh Patil of the NCP to contest from it.
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