Balwant Basawant Wankhede, Congress Candidate From AmravatiBalwant Baswant Wankhade is a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Daryapur Vidhan Sabha constituency since 2019. Wankhade contested for the 18th Lok Sabha elections from Amravati Lok Sabha’s constituency on the Congress ticket. Present BJP candidate Navneet Ravi Rana won the Lok Sabha seat then as an independent candidate in 2019. The constituency went under the elections on April 26, 2024, under Phase 2 with a 55.12 % of voter turnout.
Interestingly, from the Amravati constituency, two Balwant Wankhedes contested elections, one is the well-known Congress MLA and the other is a less-known independent candidate who even does not have a mobile phone. It is speculated that the opposition parties fielded him to disguise people against the Congress candidate. However, people can distinguish the two candidates by recognizing the party symbols.
Amravati parliamentary constituency is comprised of Badnera, Amravati, Teosa, Daryapur, Melghat and Achalpur. In the last assembly elections, 3 seats were won by INC, 2 by PJP, and 1 by Ind. Since 1999, the constituency had been a Shiv Sena Stronghold but in 2019 an independent candidate Navaneet Kaur won the elections and later joined BJP. In the general elections, the INC has not performed well in the past after the 1984 elections. Now it is interesting to watch how the national party will perform in the stronghold of regional parties. Kumari Prajakta Tarkeshwar Pillewan from Vanchit Bahujan Agadi is also contesting for the constituency.
Amravati is a SC category seat with a whopping 77.96% literacy rate. The SC, ST, and Muslim voters comprise 17.5%, 14.01%, and 14.59% of the total population in the constituency.