Lok Sabha polls: BJP's bastion gears up for a triangular contest in Akola

Akola is seen as a safe seat for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), from which Sanjay Dhotre has won successively since 2004. In 2019, Dhotre got almost 50 per cent of the votes polled and 47 per cent in 2014. Dhotre defeated Prakash Ambedkar of the Vanchit Bahujan Aaghadi (VBA) with a margin of 274,000 votes in 2019 while Congress’ Hidayatullah Patel was at number three, with a 23 per cent vote share.

For the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has fielded Sanjay Dhotre’s son, Anup Dhotre, against the Congress’ state committee general secretary Abhay Patil.

With the seat sharing talks between the Maha Vikas Aghadi – state's opposition bloc –  and VBA having failed, Akola will see a three-way contest with Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of B R Ambedkar, joining the fray yet again. He won from this seat in 1998 and 1999. Akola is in the Vidarbha region of the state where the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has a strong network. 

The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) also has a sizable support base in Akola and is campaigning hard for the Congress candidate, as are workers of the Nationalist Congress Party – Sharadchandra Pawar, third party from the opposition bloc. Akola will vote on April 26. In 2019, the BJP got 49.9 per cent of the vote share, VBA 25.11 per cent and Congress 22.93 per cent. In 2014, the BJP bagged 46.94 per cent, Congress 26.05 per cent and Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh secured 24.57 per cent vote share.