Communal rift to Sena split to Maratha quota tension, it all comes together in renamed Aurangabad

WITH two rival Shiv Sena factions caught in a battle for political one-upmanship, and the AIMIM seeking to retain the seat, the Aurangabad Lok Sabha contest is seeing the fault lines crisscrossing Maharashtra – a state that has seen much political upheaval in the past five years – converge in the constituency.

The May 13 Lok Sabha election for the seat will be the first after Aurangabad was renamed Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. In this communally sensitive city, both the Shiv Sena factions – one with the ruling Mahayuti, the other with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – claim credit for the renaming.

The Sena (UBT), an ally of the Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), has reposed faith in the tried and tested Chandrakant Khaire, a four-time MP who lost to the AIMIM’s Imtiaz Jaleel in 2019 by just 4,492 votes. The Shinde Sena has fielded Cabinet minister Sandipanrao Bhumre, an MLA from Paithan, which falls in the neighbouring Jalna district.

In between serving customers, Sujata Birad, who runs a food stall outside Aurangabad airport, hits the nail on the head. “Everyone is confused. There are so many parties and candidates, and no guarantee who will remain with whom later.”

Gajanan Landge, who is eating bread pakora at the stall and works with an airline, points to another truism of this election in Marathwada. “A lot will depend on which way the Marathas and OBCs vote.” Landge himself is a Maratha.

The Maratha reservation protests, the state government’s concession to them, and the OBC fears about losing their share of the quota benefits have driven a rift between the two communities, which is expected to be a key issue in the Marathwada region.

But if for the AIMIM it’s a prestige fight given that the Aurangabad seat was one of its