Morshi Election 2024: All about the constituency, party candidates, past winners, and more

Morshi, designated as Constituency 43, is part of the Amravati district in Maharashtra, which has a total of 2,503,884 registered voters.

Morshi, one of the 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra, is gearing up for the 2024 Vidhan Sabha elections. Located in the Amravati district, this unreserved seat will go to the polls on November 20, 2024, along with all other constituencies in the state. The vote counting for Morshi, along with the entire state, will take place on November 23, coinciding with the vote counting for Jharkhand’s elections.

Constituency Overview

Morshi, designated as Constituency 43, is part of the Amravati district in Maharashtra, which has a total of 2,503,884 registered voters. This includes 1,277,358 male voters, 1,226,432 female voters, and 94 third-gender voters. The constituency will have 311 polling stations, with over 1 lakh polling stations set up across the state for the 2024 elections, according to the State Chief Election Commissioner.

A Turbulent Political History

Maharashtra heads into this election after a turbulent political landscape in the past five years, marked by defections and splits within major political parties. In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) formed the government, but the alliance soon fractured when Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena broke away from the NDA. Shiv Sena joined forces with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, with Uddhav Thackeray becoming the Chief Minister.

However, political churning continued, and in 2022, Eknath Shinde, a senior Shiv Sena leader, broke away from Uddhav’s faction with 40 MLAs, aligning with the BJP. This led to the collapse of the MVA government and the revival of the Maha Yuti alliance, which now consists of the BJP, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The MVA now comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), Congress, and other allies.

Morshi Constituency Candidates

In Morshi, sitting MLA Devendra Bhuyar joined the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP and secured the party’s candidacy from the Pawar camp. The BJP, on the other hand, has fielded Umesh Yawalkar from the constituency. Both candidates are awaiting possible withdrawals, as per party sources. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has acknowledged that accommodating all leaders in every seat is not always possible, stating, "It’s true we cannot accommodate all leaders in every seat. Given the number of aspirants, friendly fights may occur in some Mahayuti constituencies."

In the latest list of candidates, three sitting MLAs, including some from the MVA, have been denied tickets. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) has also announced Girish Karale as its candidate to contest from Morshi.

Previous Election Results and Voter Turnout

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Devendra Mahadevrao Bhuyar of the Swabhimani Paksha won the Morshi seat with a margin of 9,791 votes. The constituency had 287,944 registered voters in 2019, with 190,205 votes cast, resulting in a 66.1% voter turnout.

As Maharashtra prepares for another high-stakes election, Morshi will once again be a key battleground. The election promises to bring forth intense political competition, given the fractured alliances and the shifting party loyalties that have characterized the state’s politics in recent years.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Morshi constituency, the candidates in the fray, and the ongoing election campaign.