Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a caste-driven election, an OBC wave propelled BJP-led Mahayuti to victory in 40 of 46 assembly seats in Marathwada.
It was a stunning reversal of fortunes for the ruling alliance less than six months after losing seven of the eight seats in Lok Sabha elections.
Mahayuti’s dominance is reflected in its clean sweep of Jalna — the epicentre of Maratha quota agitation — plus thumping victories in other hotbeds like Beed and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
A large section of OBC voters believed that Manoj Jarange’s Maratha agitation was fuelled by NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, and that their quota would be affected if MVA succeeded. This fear led to consolidation of OBC votes in favour of Mahayuti.
MVA could win only five seats — Rahul Patil of Shiv Sena (UBT) in Parbhani, Pravin Swami of UBT in Umarga, Kailas Patil of UBT in Osmanabad, Sandeep Kshirsagar NCP (SP) in Beed and Amit Deshmukh of Congress in Latur city.
In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad City and Rural), Mahayuti won all nine seats. In the six assembly seats in rural parts, three-time MLA Prashant Bamb won Gangapur and minister Abdul Sattar won Sillod in closely fought battles. Sena’s Sanjana Jadhav won in Kannad, while sitting MLA Sena’s Bornare Ramesh Nanasaheb won from Vaijapur. Anuradha Chavan of BJP won from Phulambri, whereas Sena’s Vilas Bhumare won from Paithan.
Social activist Vishnu Dhobale said quota agitations by OBCs and Marathas continued to stir Marathwada for over a year. “Even if several demands from these agitations were not within the framework of Constitution, it influenced many. The crowd and chaos impacted the election,” he said. Ladki Bahin scheme also won over voters, as many beneficiaries received money in their accounts for the first time ever, he said, pointing out that the BJP-led alliance’s campaign was aimed at keeping Hindu votes intact but ignored real issues in Marathwada.