Buldhana: Maratha farmer leader, VBA could disrupt Sena vs Sena fight

With Marathas dominating the constituency, incumbent MP Prataprao Jadhav from the Eknath Shinde-led Sena is banking on farmer leader Ravikant Tupkar

On paper, it’s looking like a fight between the two Shiv Sena factions, but the division of votes could be the decisive factor when the Buldhana constituency in Maharashtra goes to vote on April 26 in phase 2 of the 2024 general elections.

Buldhana: Maratha farmer leader, VBA could disrupt Sena vs Sena fight

With the Maratha caste dominating the constituency’s demographics, incumbent MP Prataprao Jadhav from the Eknath Shinde-led Sena is banking on farmer leader Ravikant Tupkar, an independent candidate, splitting the anti-government votes with Narendra Khedekar from Shiv Sena (UBT).

Meanwhile, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Sena is playing up the traitor versus loyalist angle within the party. It’s also hoping alliance partner Congress’ vote bank of Dalits and Muslims helps it cross the finish line.

Sena bastion

Buldhana, an underdeveloped region, has been a Shiv Sena bastion for over two decades, with the party never having lost the constituency since 1999. Jadhav has won the last three parliamentary polls with the undivided Sena. After the Sena split in 2022, Jadhav went with Shinde, while his aide Khedekar remained loyal to Thackeray and was rewarded with a ticket for the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Besides the two Sena leaders, there are also two Maratha candidates in the fray as independents: farmer leader Tupkar and Sandeep Shelke, a businessman working in the agricultural products sector. There’s also Vasant Magar, who belongs to the agrarian Mali community and is contesting as a Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) candidate.

The Buldhana district houses Sindkhedraja, a small town that’s the birthplace of Rajmata Jijabai, the mother of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. It’s an important place for the Maratha community. In this backdrop, the Thackeray faction is comparing the defection of the Shinde Sena leaders with traitors during the Shivaji Maharaj period.

“Here, in Buldhana, there is a traitor on one side and Narendra Khedekar on the other, who is fighting against the injustice. We should teach a lesson to the traitor of the Bhagava (saffron flag) in the land of ‘Jijau’,” Thackeray said during a campaign rally for Khedekar in Khamgaon on Sunday.

Shiv Sena (UBT) also blamed the Mahayuti alliance and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for all the problems faced by farmers in the last few years. “Farmers are not getting the good value for their products. Besides that, farmers are suffering losses due to natural calamities. But PM Modi, who is running from district to district to seek votes, never comes to meet the farmers when they were in trouble,” said Thackeray, who deliberately held a joint rally with the Congress’ Mukul Wasnik so that Congress leaders in Buldhana would work for Khedekar and help shift Dalit and Muslim votes into his kitty.

Division of votes

Jadhav, meanwhile, has focused on reaching out to Maratha voters with the help of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former minister Rajendra Shingne. Shingne and Jadhav had fought the 2009 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections against each other. But after the split in the NCP, Shingne joined the Ajit Pawar faction, which is now an ally of the Shinde Sena.

In 2019, Jadhav won the seat by a margin of 133,587 votes because of the division of votes between NCP’s Shingne VBA candidate Baliram Sirskar. This time, the Jadhav camp feels that farmer leader Tupkar and VBA candidate Magar would divert the anti-government votes, which would have otherwise gone to Khedekar. According to their estimates, Tupkar would get between 50,000-100,000 votes, reducing Khedekar’s tally.

“In the last 10 years, we have succeeded in developing road infrastructure in the region. And now, in the next five years, we will focus on developing irrigation as the water is important for farmers and people,” said Jadhav, who is also banking on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s three MLAs in the region to campaign for him.

BJP national president JP Nadda addressed a rally for Jadhav in Jalgaon (Jamod) on Sunday, where he attacked the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance.

“The opposition alliance is nothing but a group of corrupt leaders. On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that corrupt leaders would go to jail. The Modi government worked for the development of the nation and ensured that women, the poor, farmers, and Dalits would get the benefits of development,” said Nadda.