NCP, Shiv Sena keen to make inroads into Vidarbha

Region has been dominated by national parties Congress and BJP

The recent four-day tour of the Vidarbha region by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, after nearly two years, signals the party’s intent to make inroads into a region where the dominant players have always been the Congress and the BJP.

Mr. Pawar held a number of meetings with members from a cross-section of society – traders, lawyers, doctors, among others.

The Shiv Sena, NCP’s ally in the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government, too, has been trying hard to make inroads in the region. After severing ties with the BJP post the 2019 Assembly poll, the Sena has been attempting to extend its influence outside its traditional areas of dominance – Mumbai city, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and the Konkan.