Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Will Shiv Sena be able to retain Aurangabad constituency?

The Aurangabad Central constituency is one of the 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra, heading to the polls in 2024. The seat is unreserved. Voting for this constituency, along with all others in the state, will take place on November 20, 2024.  

This time the incumbent Pradeep Jaiswal (Shiv Sena) will face off against Naser Siddiqui (AIMIM), Balasaheb Thorat (Shiv Sena-UBT), Suhas Dashrathe (MNS) and Javed Qureshi (VBA).  

Counting of votes for all Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra will occur on November 23, 2024, alongside the counting of votes for Jharkhand elections. The same day will also see the counting of votes for bypolls to 48 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats across 15 states. 

Polling stations 

According to the state Chief Election Commissioner, the Aurangabad Central constituency will have 320 polling stations. In total, over 1 lakh polling stations will be set up across Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly elections. 

2019 Assembly Elections 

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured a majority and formed the government. However, due to internal differences, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the NDA and allied with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress (INC) to form a new coalition, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) with Uddhav Thackeray as Chief Minister. 

Political shifts continued in 2022, when Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, along with 40 MLAs, split from the Uddhav-led party and joined forces with the BJP. This led to the collapse of the MVA government and the formation of the Mahayuti alliance, consisting of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the BJP. Shinde was subsequently appointed as Chief Minister. 

A year later, in 2023, Ajit Pawar rebelled against the Sharad Pawar-led NCP, leading to a split in the party. Pawar, along with several key members, joined the Mahayuti, solidifying two major political blocs in the state: MVA, which comprises Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP), and Congress, and Mahayuti, which consists of BJP, Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction. 

Past results 

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Jaiswal Pradeep Shivnarayan, the Shiv Sena candidate, won the Aurangabad Central seat with a margin of 13,892 votes. 

Voter turnout 

During the 2019 Assembly elections, the Aurangabad Central constituency had 319,744 registered voters, with 193,155 votes cast, resulting in a voter turnout of 60.4%. 

Political landscape in 2024 

The 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections will unfold against a backdrop of a fractured political landscape, with the Shiv Sena and NCP factions facing off against each other. The Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar-led factions will challenge the BJP, with both the BJP and Congress aiming to expand their influence. The upcoming polls will determine whether the Mahayuti alliance can further consolidate its position or if the MVA will make a comeback.