Jalna Lok Sabha constituency of Maharashtra is one of the 48 parliamentary constituencies of the state. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Kalyan Kale of the Indian National Congress won the seat, ending the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 1996. BJP’s Raosaheb Danve has been the MP from Jalna for five consecutive times. Congress has won this seat by defeating him. This region is in the north of Marathwada division. This part of Jalna was a part of the Nizam state but later it was included in Maharashtra. It is a district headquarters, due to which big administrative offices are also present here. Jalna Lok Sabha constituency is known throughout the country for hybrid seeds. Apart from this, bidi industry, steel mill and sweet lime fruit are also produced in abundance here.
This Lok Sabha constituency is spread across Jalna and Aurangabad (changed name- Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar) districts. Jalna, Badnapur, Bhokardan, Sillod, Phulbri and Paithan assembly constituencies come under it. Out of which five seats are occupied by the ‘Mahayuti alliance’ and one seat is occupied by the Congress. The Jalna assembly seat of this Lok Sabha constituency is with the Congress, from where the party’s Kailash Kisanrao Gorantyal is currently an MLA. The voters of this area have been expressing trust in Shiv Sena and Indian National Congress alternately. This sequence has been continuing since 1990. In the 2014 elections, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) won from here. MLA Kailash Kishanrao has represented this area thrice.
Badnapur assembly seat is the only reserved seat in Jalna Lok Sabha constituency. This constituency, which comes under Jalna district, is reserved for the Scheduled Caste category. Narayan Tilakchand Kuche of Bharatiya Janata Party has won the election from here twice in a row. Before him, this seat was with Santosh Pundalik Sambre of Shiv Sena. Bhokardan is another seat in this Lok Sabha constituency, which comes under Jalna district. Bharatiya Janata Party and Nationalist Congress Party have been dominating this constituency for a long time. From 1990 to 2000, this seat was with BJP. After which Chandrakant Pundlikrao Danve of NCP ruled here for about 13 years, but in the 2014 elections, Santosh Raosaheb Danve of BJP snatched this seat from him and he has been reaching the House as a representative of Bhokardan assembly constituency for two consecutive times. MLA Santosh Danve was the youngest MLA in the 13th Lok Sabha of Maharashtra.
The voters of Sillod assembly constituency, who made almost all the parties victorious except the Nationalist Congress Party, kept their trust in Shiv Sena in the 2019 assembly elections. However, after the split in Shiv Sena in 2022, this seat is still with Eknath Shinde. Abdul Sattar has been an MLA from this seat for three consecutive times. In the last election, he reached the assembly on a Shiv Sena ticket, while in the 2009 and 2014 elections, he reached the assembly on a Congress party ticket. Before him, the Bharatiya Janata Party has also been the winner in this area for 15 years. Abdul Sattar is the Minister of Minority Development in the current government led by Eknath Shinde. Even before this, he has worked as a cabinet minister in many ministries in previous governments.
The Phulbri assembly seat, which came into existence after the delimitation in the state in 2008, falls under Aurangabad district. This seat has been occupied by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the last 10 years. Haribhau Kisanrao Bagde won the 2014 and 2019 elections on a BJP ticket. Before him, this area has also been led by Kalyan Kale of the Congress Party, who is currently an MP from Jalna Lok Sabha constituency. At present, the Phulbri assembly seat is vacant because MLA Haribhau Bagde has been appointed as the new Governor of Rajasthan by the government. Bagde, who has been a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker since childhood, is also known as ‘Nana’ in the state. After the victory in Maharashtra in 2014, the BJP also appointed him as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
Paithan Assembly seat, known by number 110 in Maharashtra Assembly, falls under Aurangabad (Sambhaji Nagar) district. This area has been one of the strongest strongholds of Shiv Sena since 1990. Party leader Sandipanrao Bhumare was an MLA from 1995 to 2009. After which, in the 2009 assembly elections, Sanjay Waghchaure of NCP defeated him and won this seat, but in 2014, Bhumare once again snatched this seat from him and put it in the account of Shiv Sena. For the last two terms, he has been reaching the assembly to the voice of the people of this area. Bhumare has also been made a cabinet minister in the current government of the state.
According to the 2011 census, the district had a population of 1,959,046, of which males and females were 1,011,473 and 947,573 respectively. The average literacy rate was 71.52% – 60.95% among females and 81.53% among males. Around 1,493,937 rural voters constitute about 77.8% of the total electorate. Scheduled caste voters constitute about 13.9%. Scheduled tribe voters in the constituency are about 3.3%.
