Lok Sabha polls 2024: Interesting battle in Marathwada

Mumbai: In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Maharashtra's Marathwada is seeing a rise in Maratha reservation demand and the OBC resistance which might spring a few surprises in the poll results. Moreover, extreme weather events, water crisis and farmer issues might add to the existing issues and decide the results.

Marathwada has a total of eight Lok Sabha seats. These seats are, Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded, Hingoli, Beed, Osmanabad, and Latur (SC).

Elections will be held in the region in three phases.

While, the contest would be involving the two alliances - Maha Yuti and Maha Vikas Aghadi, there are other players as well the Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) headed by former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA).

Last year, Aurangabad district was renamed Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, after the son of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Osmanabad as Dharashiv.

The region has given four Congress Chief Ministers - late Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar, late Shankarrao Chavan, late Vilasrao Deshmukh and Ashok Chavan. However, earlier this year Chavan joined the BJP and became a Rajya Sabha member - a move by the saffron party that increased difficulties of the Congress. Two sons of Deshmukh - Amit Deshmukh and Dheeraj Deshmukh are MLAs from Latur.

The other stalwarts are Shivraj Patil, a former Lok Sabha Speaker and former Union Home Minister and late Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde. After his death, his daughter Dr Pritam Munde represented the seat twice, but this time she was replaced by her sister Pankaja Munde.

The region receives less rainfall than other parts of the state and also lags in development.

The last five years have witnessed intense caste-politics with Jalna becoming the hub of Maratha reservation here Shivba Sanghatana founder Manoj Jarange-Patil undertook four hunger strikes and secured two reservations with the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passing the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Bill, 2024, paving way for 10 per cent reservation to the community, which comprises 28 per cent population of the state and under the Kunbi category of the OBCs. However, veteran OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal had come out openly against his own Maha Yuti leadership.

The hub of Marathwada - Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar - had seen communal flare-ups in the recent past.

If we go into the history of last three elections, Congress has seen a decline of support in the region while BJP has doubled up.

In 2009 elections, Shiv Sena secured three, both Congress and BJP secured two each and NCP secured one.

In 2014, Congress secured two while Shiv Sena and BJP secured three each.

In 2019, Shiv Sena secured three seats, BJP secured four and AIMIM secured just one.