Rahul Gandhi may contest Lok Sabha polls from Maharashtra’s Nanded: Here's what makes the seat ripe

Congress President Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Rahul Gandhi may contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Nanded constituency in Maharashtra, according to reports.

However, it is unclear if Gandhi will contest on multiple seats or will drop the traditional Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Reports add that another seat in Madhya Pradesh is under consideration.

Senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan told The Times of India, “Rahul Gandhi is the president of the Congress party. He can successfully contest from any Lok Sabha constituency. If he decides to contest from Nanded, he is most welcome.”

Nanded has been a Congress bastion, making it a safe seat to contest from. The party has won 16 out of the 20 Lok Sabha elections and by-elections held here. In 2014, Chavan had won from Nanded, his home town.

Despite facing a rout in the 2014 state elections, Congress had held on to three out of the six assembly segments in Nanded.

In 2017, Congress swept the Nanded Municipal Corporation, winning 73 out of the 81 seats. Commenting on the win, Chavan had said, “The Ghar Wapsi of the BJP will begin from Nanded.”

If Gandhi contests from Nanded, Chavan could be accommodated in the Vidhan Sabha election later this year, as urged by the latter's supporters in a party meeting earlier.

According to the 2011 Census, around 19 percent population in Nanded district belong to Scheduled Castes (SCs), around 14 percent are Muslims and 10 percent are Buddhists.

Why Nanded?

Political experts suggest that the aim is to optimally use the spill-over effect that would be generated.

With the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Gandhi contesting from Amethi would have a limited impact on neighbouring constituencies. However, Gandhi contesting from Nanded could have a spill-over impact in Latur, Yavatmal-Washim, Parbhani and Hingoli.

Such an impact could help the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance win more seats in the Marathwada region as well as help them in the assembly elections, expected to happen in September-October.

The constituency also borders Karnataka and Telangana, where it is hoping to improve its tally from 2014.

What makes Maharashtra key?

Maharashtra has the second-largest pool of Lok Sabha seats at 48. Winning a significant chunk of seats in the state would improve chances of either the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) or the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) of forming the government at the Centre.

Maharashtra: Seats won by major parties in Lok Sabha polls (1999-2014)

In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA had won 42 out of 48 seats in the state. BJP and Shiv Sena won 23 and 18 seats respectively. Their then ally Raju Shetti-led Swabhimani Paksha won one.

In terms of vote share, BJP and Shiv Sena bagged 27.56 and 20.82 percent of the votes, respectively. Congress and NCP polled 18.29 and 16.12 percent of the votes, respectively.