With just a few weeks left for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, all eyes are set on states which can play an instrumental role in the formation of the government. After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra with its 48 MPs is the second highest contributor to the Lok Sabha. With new alliances forging and leaders jumping ship, the political scenario in Maharashtra has been in the spotlight. The state will be undergoing the 2019 general elections in 4 phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29 with an addition to the whopping 1.19 Corers first time voters taking the tally of total eligible voters to 8,73,29,910.
Vidarbha, a region of eastern Maharashtra has taken the spotlight after unprecedented development in the region after BJP formed the government in the state; the national and state governments with their combined efforts have been successful in implementing ambitious development programs in the region.
Vidarbha had been on the back seat, considering the development which has taken place in other regions of the state. Vidarbha includes 11 districts namely Amravati, Akola, Bhandara, Buldhana, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nagpur, Wardha,Washim and Yavatmal. Feeble representation of the region in the state assembly and absence of credible voices in the Lok Sabha had further disadvantaged Vidarbha. Negligence of the state governments over years and lack luster attitude of the previous central governments has impacted Vidarbha’s prosperity in major way. However post the turnaround in the national and state politics, after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari got elected from Nagpur and appointment of CM Fadnavis, who also belongs to Vidarbha, the region has been seeing a constant developmental progress in different sectors.
The Saubhagya Scheme or Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana was one of the flagship schemes of the Narendra Modi government and Vidarbha has been a major beneficiary under this program.A total of 2.5 Lakhs households were identified as unelectrified in the 11 districts of Vidarbha however after proactive steps taken by the government a total of 257880 houses have been electrified under this scheme, giving a major push to the rural and urban development of the region. Vidharbha is now 100 % electrified. District wise breakup of the households electrified is as follows.
Internal security which had also been suffering in the critical eastern districts of Vidarbha also got a major boost; successful anti-naxal operations have vastly tilted the security situation in favor of the residents.. Less than an year ago in 2018 major encounter including the C-60 squad of the Maharashtra police and CRPF saw 37 Maoists been gunned down in the just 48 hours in the Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
Strong resolve by the Fadnavis government to counter left wing extremists and increasing contact programs with the tribals have further aided amalgamation and development of the Vidharbha region. Infrastructure development under The Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and other initiates has given the region the much needed infrastructural support. Water security of the region has also improved since CM Fadnavis began enure. Urban transportation projects and new found efforts for the development of multi-modal international cargo hub and airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) is set to take the region to economic prosperity. Top national-level institutions like AIIMS, IIM and IIT have also been setup in the region. Vidharbha a region with immense opportunities and resources has finally been getting the support and attention it lacked for a long time.
