Lok Sabha elections 2019: Battle of narratives may force a photo finish in Maharashtra

The state has the second highest number of Lok Sabha seats, 48, and in 2014, the BJP and its ally, the Shiv Sena, won 42 of them – its best-ever performance in the state. The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition could win just six.

In the drought-hit Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, 239 kilometres from the state capital of Mumbai, a cattle fodder camp in Baburdi village offers visitors momentary respite from the sweltering heat.

Members of Dalit outfits take out a march in Pune on January 2, 2018 to protest against the Bhima Koregaon violence. (Vijayanand Gupta/HT file)

Under the green tarpaulin sheds, Arun Kothewal is one of hundreds of farmers who will stay here with their cattle this summer.

Back home, in the adjoining village of Khadki, Kothewal left behind 300 orange trees, that wilted due to a lack of irrigation water. Mortgaging his wife’s gold ornaments, Kothewal hopes to keep the remaining 400 trees alive by feeding them water from the tanker.