Vidarbha candidates must labour for farmers’ vote

Campaigning for 10 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region came to an end on Tuesday, 48 hours before voting begins.

Polling will be held over three phases in the state — on April 10, 17 and 24.

Vidarbha, Mumbai region and western Maharashtra each send 10 MPs to the lower house of parliament and account for 30 of the 48 constituencies in the state. In the 2009 general elections, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won five seats each from Vidarbha.

The Congress won four seats, the Nationalist Congress Party one, the Shiv Sena three and the BJP two. In the current round, there are 201 candidates including 90 independents. The Congress is contesting seven seats, the NCP three, the BJP six and the Sena four.

A key contest is in Nagpur where former BJP president Nitin Gadkari is challenging Vilas Muttemwar, the sitting MP. The presence of Anjali Damania, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate will affect the chances of Muttemwar, who is a Congress veteran from the region.

Another heavyweight politician who is fighting to retain his seat is high-flying NCP minister Praful Patel from Bhandara-Gondia. Challenging him is Nana Patole of the BJP. Vidarbha is one of the most backward regions in the state. Hundreds of farmers have committed suicide in the region despite billions of rupees having been invested in projects by the government.

• India