With elections due in a month, election fever has gripped the entire Maharashtra. While the MVA has released a list of 158 candidates, Mahayuti has announced candidates for 182 seats.

Maharashtra has six key regions—Vidarbha, Marathwada, Western Maharashtra, North Maharashtra, Mumbai and Thane-Konkan—each of which has its own dynamics. Naturally, the alliance that wins four of these six regions will go on to form the government, and thus, parties are tailoring their strategies zone-wise. While Vidarbha has 62 seats, the Northern zone has 35, Marathwada 46, the Western zone 70, Mumbai 36, and Thane-Konkan 39.

In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, the MVA was leading in Vidarbha, the West, Marathwada and Mumbai and was able to win 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats. The ruling Mahayuti was ahead in just the North and Thane-Konkan regions.

The MVA and the Mahayuti each have three players, with specific strengths. The Congress led from the front in Vidarbha, defeating the BJP in one-to-one contests. In Mumbai, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena held sway, and in Western Maharashtra,........

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