The Lok Sabha constituency of Nandurbar (ST) is one of the 48 parliamentary constituencies in Maharashtra. One among Dhule district’s parts and its entire area constitute this seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The Nandurbar (ST) Lok Sabha constituency includes seven Assembly segments. Among these, three are currently held by the BJP namely Shahada-ST, Nandurbar-ST and Shirpur-ST while two are with Congress i.e., Akkalkuwa-ST and Nawapur-ST. The Sakri-ST seat belongs to an Independent candidate.
- Polling Date – May 13, 2024
- Sitting MP – Dr Heena Vijaykumar Gavit (BJP)
- Candidates – Dr Heena Vijaykumar Gavit (BJP), Gowaal K Padavi (Congress)
- Political Dynamics
Overview: Geographically speaking, Nandurbar is a key district at a tri-junction area. In addition to being part of Satpura mountain ranges and Narmada river belt, North Maharashtra’s Nandurbar also shares borders with Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. It is one of the poorest districts in Maharashtra state.
Historically, since the first general elections in 1952, Nandurbar has been a stronghold of Congress but was breached by BJP during Narendra Modi wave in 2014. After retaining it in 2019, BJP has made significant gains in north Maharashtra as well as other regions such as Malegaon, Dhule etc.
It is however widely expected that tribal voters’ ire against violence against tribals in Manipur , anxieties related to Uniform Civil Code etc coupled with charges by Congress Party that Bharatiya Janata Party intends to rewrite constitution will reduce saffron party’s vote share but the popularity of sitting MP cum BJP nominee Dr.Heena may just be adequate for her party although she may win by a narrower margin.
BJP: The party’s sitting MP from the Nandurbar since 2014, Dr Heena Gavit is again in fray for the third time running.
A Medical Graduate, she became a giant slayer by breaking the stronghold of Congress which had lasted for sixty four years on Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat when she won her maiden election in 2014. Her victory denied a tenth successive term to Manikrao Gavit (Congress) and it virtually finished his political carrier.
In 2019, She defeated KC Padavi of Congress by more than 95,000 votes to keep the seat with BJP. In this election year of 2024, he faces Gowaal K Padavi son of Padavi who has also been nominated as candidate by Congress Party.
Heena is Vijaykumar Gavit’s daughter, an Ex-NCP minister who was sacked from his post by his own party just before the 2014 general elections because she joined BJP and got a ticket from Nandurbar constituency.
The focus of Heena Gavit’s campaign this time has been on women empowerment and the development of medical sector in the tribal belt.
During last ten years Dr.Gavit has created an image for herself among her voters
While malnutrition, sickle cell anaemia and poor maternal health are still issues plaguing her constituency but there seem to be some improvement during last decades in health infrastructure .
Objections to Nomination: Although emerging as giant killer for BJP in 2014, support to Gavit nomination this time was not absolute with a section of local BJP unit demanding change in candidate.
Some local leaders reportedly were lobbying for themselves or their candidates that led to objections being raised against Gavit staking claims for candidacy. Also certain sections have complained about being neglected particularly within the party hierarchy.
According to the sources, there are local leaders who fear that if Gavit bags a hat-trick this time, she will permanently dwarf them.
Besides local BJP units, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena also objected to repeating the sitting MP though it had no problem with the seat going to mahayuti in the saffron party kitty.
The alliance partners have a complaint that Gavit is cold towards them.
It did not work out in Nandurbar, unlike other parts of Maharashtra where a truce was reached between Shinde’s camp and BJP on seat-sharing differences.
Some sources say that certain BJP local leaders opted for not making peace as part of an overall strategy aimed at stalling Heena Gavit’s rise politically.
Many sections of Shiv Sena (Shinde) branches are openly campaigning for Congress nominee as per ground reports
For 64 years starting from 1952 up to 2014, Congress enjoyed absolute electoral domination in the constituency.
Manikrao Gavit was a former Union Minister of State for Home. From 1981 until 2014 he represented Nandurbar in Lok Sabha for nine consecutive terms without defeat.
However, during the Modi wave in 2014 elections, this grand old party lost its fortress to Heena Gavit (BJP). It brought about Manikrao Gavit’s three-decade dominance in the constituency came down by around 1 lakh six thousand votes which he could not cover against Heena who secured more votes than him.
This year when the nine-time MP died (2022), Congress lost Manikrao Gavit’s grip on affairs in the area because his expertise has always been invaluable here since last century.
The bastion Quest: The Congress took away this seat during seat sharing talk with MVA partners Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP due to its close association with Nandurbar.
To recapture the lost fortress, Congress has given ticket to 32-year old Bombay High Court advocate Gowaal K Padavi.
The election in Nandurbar is not only political for Padavi but also personal since his father, KC Padavi, was defeated by sitting MP and BJP candidate Heena Gavit with a margin of 95,629 votes in the last general election held in 2019.
However, the Congress played safe by giving it to his son amid cash-for-job allegations levelled against Padavi Sr., even when Akkalkuwa MLA KC Padavi was also on the race for this ticket.
The main disadvantage for Gowaal this time is his low recall value among voters as compared to that of two-time MP Heena Gavit. This is also his first election.
Gowaal had reportedly come to Rahul Gandhi’s attention during Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra recently conducted by former.
Nehru-Gandhi Association: Nehru-Gandhi family has deep roots in Nandurbar district. In previous elections party leaders like Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi chose to begin their poll campaign from Nandurbar.
Sonia Gandhi had come here after joining active politics where she addressed her first rally at Nandurbar while launching the UPA government’s flagship program called Aadhaar, which happened to be started off here too at the same time
While visiting tribal dominated district of Nandurbar during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in March this year Congress leader Rahul Gandhi announced that if elected it would implement caste census and economic and financial survey besides strengthening Forest Rights Act.
Among other things he promised introducing a law providing for guaranteed Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm as well as forest produce.
Community Factors: Both BJP and Congress candidates are Bhils and hence the community votes might be divided between them.
However, around 2.5 lakh tribals who are Christian converts may not fall on the side of BJP over alleged RSS campaign to get them delisted, depriving them of quota benefits.
Concerns Over Constitution Controversy: The Congress accusations that the BJP is targeting at changing the constitution and ending reservations if it wins a third term at the Centre have found some currency in Nandurbar constituency inhabited by tribals.
Of the 18 lakh voters in Nandurbar, about 65% belong to Scheduled Tribes who dread losing their reservation facility for STs.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been charging that if it reclaims power, BJP will “tear up and throw away” the Constitution. There had also been some other Congress functionaries expressing apprehension over whether or not BJP would still retain word ‘secularism’ from Preamble of Constitution.
The party has also sought clarifications from senior leaders of BJP as regards its position on Article 14 (2), which provides that nothing shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing in regard to backward classes of citizens for whom under-representation in services under State is manifestly evident or OBCs with inadequate representation having regard to population percentage.
While campaigning across India top BJP leaders have reiterated that there is no plan to tamper with Preamble or end reservations.
BJP accused Congress of making people paranoid by spreading half-truths for vote banks politics
Manipur Incident Impact: They hold grudges against the party after they saw what happened in Manipur last year when two women belonging to Kuki-Zomi were stripped naked before being sexually harassed during ethnic violence in May.
Uniform Civil Code: Another key factor affecting elections in Nandurbar is fear of loss of special protection if included under central UCC .
After the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, a central UCC is the only remaining promise among the BJP’s holy trinity of election promises. Uttarakhand, which is under BJP rule, has already implemented its own Uniform Civil Code and there are speculations that other states or even Central government may also follow suit by introducing it during its third term.
While many political controversies stemmed from keeping tribal communities under its ambit in case of Uttarakhand’s UCC , such as Jharkhand, Maharastra and other states are worried about central UCC.
Some tribal groups have demanded that they should be exempted from it while opposition parties accused ruling BJP of using it as an election ploy when Law Commission was consulting on this matter.
Advantage BJP Nevertheless: Irrespective of public sentiment on the foregoing three issues, sources said at present BJP is ahead due mainly to last ten years’ positive image making by Dr Heena Gavit for herself in her constituency.
However, analysts argue that this time round she may win with lesser margin than before.
Game-Changing Visits: The constituency is eagerly awaiting two high-profile visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra which could turn around fortunes for respective candidates.
It is largely owing to this status that people are anxiously awaiting Priyanka Gandhi’s visit who is the Nehru-Gandhi family’s daughter. In Nandurbar, the first family of Congress still has some kind of tribal affection and curiosity.
On the other hand, Narendra Modi will supposedly visit to pacify BJP differences and Mahayuti alliance in the constituency as a major boost to Dr Gavit’s campaign.
Beyond his government’s outreach to the tribes and schemes, it is Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana that has made him popular in Nandurbar.
VBA is a Non-Factor: Unlike other seats in Maharashtra, Nandurbar does not have Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Prakash Ambedkar as a force influencing its politics.
In actuality, there was an attempt by Hanumant M Suryawanshi and its representative to withdraw his candidature which was rejected because he had failed to file it on VBA letterhead.
Principal Constituency Issues
Malnutrition: It is said that this is the biggest ever problem of Nandurbar lasting for many decades. In 2006, several public interest litigations were filed drawing attention to high number of deaths of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers due to malnutrition here.
During hearing on these pleas in 2022, Bombay High Court was told that from January 2022 till that time about 400 persons including 86 children have died due to malnutrition and lack of medical facilities in Nandurbar area alone.
According to National Family Health Survey between 2019-2021; as much as 57.2% children under five years are underweight in Nandurbar making it second-highest figure across India.
As at June-July 2022, up from just 7% in May, 15% of children under six years from Nandurbar were found to be malnourished.
Also, Nandurbar has consistently remained at the bottom of Maharashtra Human Development Index (HDI).
Sickle Cell Anaemia: Out of the 18,000 registered patients in the state, Nandurbar has highest number of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) patients with 3,842.
SCA is heredity disorder that results when a person inherits two abnormal copies of haemoglobin from each parent leading to formation of red blood cells taking shape of sickle due to lack of oxygen. The symptoms include body pain, weakness and fatigue, infections and stroke.
The district lacks essentials like basic health infrastructure for treating SCA as well as medicines and specialists for the same.
However, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) has a satellite centre dedicated to studying SCA in Nandurbar.
Integrated Sickle Cell Anemia Research Program (I-SCARP) in Nandurbar is also exploring naturopathy as a cure for SCA.
Infant Deaths: Reports indicated that in three months Nandurbar had reported 179 child deaths with 70% occurring within babies aged between 0-28 days.
Neonatal deaths are due to factors such as low birth weight, birth asphyxia, sepsis and respiratory problems which were given by Sawan Kumar who is the District Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
He further explained that villages in two talukas account for about sixty percent of deaths where they are not connected throughout the year or do not have proper road networks making it hard for ambulances to get there promptly.
In September 2023 CMO launched “Mission Lakshya 84 Days” aimed at addressing infant and maternal mortality. This scheme grants forty-two days towards antenatal care (ANC) and another forty two days for postnatal care (PNC).
According to the Indian Express, during this period home deliveries in the district reduced by almost five times from 1,060 cases reported between September 2023 and January 2024. They have since dropped to only 211.
Drought: Nandurbar is a drought prone district of Maharashtra. It is one of the 11 districts in the state which are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, droughts and dwindling water security, according to a study by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI).
Under these circumstances, the region’s crop productivity has decreased due to drought, cyclones, floods, changes in rainfall patterns and other related factors.
Forest Rights Act: Some families in Nandurbar district are waiting for their claims under Forest Rights Act to be accepted.
A milestone in redressing historical injustices against Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, the objective of Forest Rights Act (2006) was to recognize the rights of forest-dwelling communities who have been living there for generations.
According to government data, claim disposal rate under FRA has fallen from 87.72 per cent to 84.44 per cent over the last five years.
In March during his visit to Nandurbar Rahul Gandhi accused BJP governments at Centre and states for wrongly rejecting thousands of claims under Forest Right Acts and denying tribals entry into forests.
Migration: With mass unemployment as well as multiple employments opportunities available outside Nandurbar, its youth as well as able workers migrate seasonally towards other places within Maharashtra and sometimes Gujarat too for work.
These include migration by farm workers and labourers in agriculture sector. This trend goes with increasing frequency & severity of drought conditions that is being aggravated by climate change.
Exploitation of Farm Workers: Most farm workers migrating work in sugar industry while majority of them go there during harvesting time only.
Local labour contractors — known as “mukkadams” — typically hire husband-and-wife teams or “jodis” through informal agreements instead of formal contracts.
During this six month harvest period they work shifts ranging from twelve hours a day to sixteen hours a day. Generally, men cut the cane while women tie and stack bundles.
Leaves are considered an unnecessary luxury as they often lead to wage deductions, in turn creating a fear of taking any leave at all.
- Voter Demographics
- Social composition
- SC — 4.01%
- ST — 65%
Religious composition
- Buddhist — 0.42%
- Christian — 0.4%
- Jain — 0.47%
- Muslim — 6.95%
- Sikh — 0.05%
- Major Infra Projects in Nandurbar
Hospital and Government Medical College: In February this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a new hospital with five hundred beds in Nandurbar.
The construction of medical college, hospital, and related buildings is valued over Rs600 Crore which will be dedicated to the tribal communities of Nandurbar.
Project completion is expected until February, 2026.
Highway Projects: In April, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid foundation stones for two National highways projects worth Rs1,791.46 crore in Dhule that would impetus to the economic development of Dhule and Nandurbar districts.
These projects will ease travel access for people visiting tourist places like Brass Cave-Caves & Gautala Sanctuary or world famous Ajanta Caves and Daulatabad Fort respectively.
Shewali-Nandurbar road project will help develop tribal areas across this region.
Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor, a 70,000 crore project of improving railway connectivity and infrastructure in tribal areas in India.
This is part of the budget for 2023-2024 and its purpose is to assist tribes people, promote social economic development and address missing links.
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