As the Bharatiya Janata Party stronghold in Vidarbha gears up for the upcoming Maharashtra polls, all eyes are on Nagpur South West and Kamthi.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is eyeing a fourth term as MLA from Nagpur South West. State BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, on the other hand, is contesting from Kamthi in the district. This time, Bawankule is locked in a BJP vs Congress and is looking to retain his stronghold.
In Nagpur South West, Fadnavis is likely to get a good fight from Congress' Prafulla Gudhade-Patil. It could be a close contest between the Deputy CM and Gudhade-Patil, who was defeated in 2014, as per political observers.
Fadnavis could face voters' heat on issues like flooding in some areas of the constituency following heavy rains last year, unemployment and inflation. The BJP is looking to retain its bastion by highlighting Ladki Bahin Yojana and other welfare schemes.
It could also score over its opponent on the development plank, given establishments like the Multi Modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN), IIM Nagpur are located in the assembly constituency. The Nagpur Metro also came up during Fadnavis' rule.
Prafulla Gudhade has been a familiar name and is banking on anti-incumbency and public displeasure.
In Kamthi, Chandrashekar Bawankule, the OBC face of the saffron party, is likely to face a stiff fight against former Nagpur Zilla Parishad president Suresh Bhoyar.
Bhoyar is banking on anti-incumbency to make it big whereas Bawankule is sure that the BJP will do well. Bawankule is confident of the BJP's prospects in the constituency because of the development works under the Mahayuti government.
Not just Nagpur South West and Kamthi, it is a direct BJP versus Congress fight in 6 other assembly seats. Check out the full list of assembly seats as well as Mahayuti and MVA candidates in the Nagpur district here:
| Constituency | Mahayuti | MVA |
| Nagpur South West | Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) | Prafulla Gudhade-Patil (Congress) |
| Kamthi | Chandrashekhar Bawankule (BJP) | Suresh Bhoyar (Congress) |
| Nagpur South | Mohan Mate (BJP) | Girish Pandav (Congress) |
| Nagpur East | Krishna Khopde (BJP) | Duneshwar Pethe (NCP-SP) |
| Nagpur Central | Pravin Datke (BJP) | Bunty Shelke (Congress) |
| Nagpur West | Sudhakar Kohale (BJP) | Vikas Thakre (Congress) |
| Nagpur North | Milind Mane (BJP) | Nitin Raut (Congress) |
| Katol | Charansingh Thakur (BJP); Anil Deshmukh (NCP) | Salil Deshmukh (NCP-SP) |
| Savner | Ashish Deshmukh (BJP) | Anuja Kedar (Congress) |
| Hingna | Sameer Meghe (BJP) | Rameshchandra Bang (NCP-SP) |
| Umred | Sudhir Parwe (BJP) | Sanjay Meshram (Congress) |
| Ramtek | Ashish Jaiswal (Shiv Sena) |
Vishal Barbate (SS-UBT) |