In the 12 parliamentary constituencies of Maharashtra where onion growers and traders are concentrated, the NDA won in 4 seats in 2024, a decrease of 8 seats over 2019. The INDIA bloc has won in 8 seats, an increase of 8 seats compared with the 2019 polls.
In these seats, the NDA secured a vote share of 39.3% in 2024, a decrease of 27.3 percentage points compared to 2019. The INDIA polled a vote share of 50%, an increase of 26.9 percentage points from the 2019 elections.
It is important to note that, the alliance calculations in the story are done based on party coalitions formed in 2024.
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Since August 2023, a series of flip-flops in the Centre’s export policy of onions has left onion farmers and traders in Maharashtra disgruntled, media reports suggested. Onion farmers and traders — especially in Nashik — have been up in arms for many months now and have expressed their disapproval by suspending onion auctions and going on a strike.
Table 1 | The table shows the seats won by alliances in 2024 and changes from 2019
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Table 2 | The table shows the vote share secured by alliances in 2024 and changes from 2019
The data shows the repeated changes in the export policy have dented the NDA’s chances in Maharashtra’s onion belt, as their vote share and the number of seats won has come down significantly from 2019.
Note that the NCP and the Shiv Sena have split into two parties each, with one party from each split supporting the National Democratic Alliance and the other supporting the INDIA bloc in the 2024 polls.
Table 3 | The table shows the seat-wise winners in 2024 and 2019
In the two seats in Nashik district, which exports around 90 percent of onions from India, the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar has won the Dindori seat (held by Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019) while the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackrey) has won in Nashik in 2024. The two factions of the Shiv Sena were in a direct contest in Nashik. In Dindori, Sharad Pawar’s NCP was pitted against the BJP.
In Shirdi, the two factions of the Shiv Sena were in a direct contest in 2024. In Ahmednagar, Sharad Pawar’s NCP contested against the BJP. The INDIA bloc secured both the seats in 2024.
In the two seats in Dhule district, the Indian National Congress won in Dhule and Nandurbar in 2024. The BJP and the Congress were in a direct contest in both the seats. The BJP had won both the seats in 2019.
In the two seats in Jalgaon district, Bharatiya Janata Party has won the Jalgaon and Raver constituencies. The BJP had won these seats in 2019 as well. In Jalgaon, the BJP was up against the Shiv Sena (UBT). In Raver, the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) was in a direct contest with the BJP.
