Maharashtra Lok Sabha Elections 2024: VBA's Influence on Seven Seats Raises Concerns for MVA

Akola: The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) has opted to run without the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in upcoming elections. This has drawn attention to the vote division caused by Vanchit in the last 2019 elections and the setback received by MVA. Last time, the Congress alliance suffered a loss of about seven seats due to Vanchit's independent move.  

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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Congress did not do as well as expected in the state. The Congress alliance has suffered a major setback as it has not been able to take the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi along. Candidates in 15 seats of Vanchit got between 90,000 and 3 lakh votes and in about seven seats, Vanchit candidates kept Congress alliance candidates away from victory.  The Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, formed by Adv.Prakash Ambedkar and AIMIM got around 14 percent of the votes and also got an MP from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

How many votes did Vanchit get in which constituency? 

• Nanded: Yashpal Bhinge of Vanchit polled 1,66,196 votes. Congress' Ashok Chavan lost by a margin of just 40,148 votes. 
• Buldhana: NCP Rajendra Shingne lost by a margin of 1,33,287 votes. Baliram Sirskar of Vanchit polled 1,72,627 votes.
• Gadchiroli-Chimur: Congress Namdev Usendi lost by 77,526 votes. Ramesh Gajbe of Vanchit got 1,11,468 votes. 
• Parbhani: Congress' Rajesh Vitekar lost by a margin of 42,199 votes. Alamgir Khan of Vanchit got 1,49,946 votes.  
• Solapur: Congress' Sushilkumar Shinde lost by a margin of 1,58,608 votes. Vanchit's Prakash Ambedkar polled 1,70,007 votes. 
• Hatkanangle: Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana's Raju Shetti lost by a margin of 96,039 votes. Aslam Syed of Vanchit polled 1,23,419 votes. 
• Sangli: Congress' Vishal Patil lost by a margin of 1,64,352 votes. Gopichand Padalkar of Vanchit got 3,234 votes.

After the changed equation in the state, the role of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will be decisive in this Lok Sabha election as well. In the 2019 elections, Vanchit, who finished third in as many as 39 seats, had shown its strength.