Mumbai: The Andheri East by-poll is very significant not just on account of the prestige fight between the two warring fronts of the Shiv Sena but also for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It will be the first litmus test for all of them after the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by Uddhav Thackeray was pulled down by defector Eknath Shinde with the backing of the BJP in June-July this year. The poll results will not only set the tone for the forthcoming local body polls but reveal the political standing of each one of the parties after the high-voltage political drama in the state.
The Andheri by-poll, scheduled to be held on November 3, has garnered state-wide importance in the backdrop of the political upheaval in the state when 40 of 55 MLAs left Thackeray to join hands with the BJP to form the government in Maharashtra. The constituency, which has a mix of lower-income and middle-income group voters with a few elite pockets, may thus not thus see a battle fought on the civic issues it faces. However there are many issues in this constituency, which has industrial hubs like the Andheri MIDC and SEEPZ and linear transport projects like the metro railway routes.
The key issues
The main issues here include the rehabilitation of slum dwellers, infrastructure like water and drainage in slum areas and redevelopment of old buildings, especially some pockets which are part of the airport funnel zone. The constituency lags behind in health infrastructure and faces a major problem of water supply. Stalled redevelopment projects have left slum dwellers from the constituency in the lurch and living in transit accommodation for years.
“We have focused on providing water to areas which did not get adequate water supply or were hamstrung by low pressure. The late Ramesh Latke, MLA from here, had worked for this. The problem has almost been solved. Old water lines have been replaced to ensure that water is supplied at a higher force,” said Shiv Sena leader Anil Parab.
BJP candidate Murji Patel said, “We have no government-run hospital in the vicinity, posing challenges during epidemics and compelling citizens to depend on expensive treatments in private hospitals. Similarly, 12 of our key roads have been encroached upon by slums, leading to traffic snarls. I plan to clear these roads by rehabilitating the slumdwellers. We are also planning to have meetings with the industrial houses in the constituency to ensure that youngsters from the area get priority in recruitment in the industries here. Ours is the highest tax-paying constituency in the city.”
Sympathy wave
The Shiv Sena expects the sympathy wave to work in its favour in the by-poll. “Besides the sympathy for Rutuja Latke due to the demise of her husband Ramesh, voters here have a soft corner for the Thackeray faction thanks to its ‘betrayal’ by the Shinde camp,” said a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader. “The drama over the delay in passing Latke’s resignation by the BMC has also fuelled sentiments among voters. It will help us in the election.”
The UBT Sena also expects the ‘Marathi pride’ card to favour it, as 40 percent of votes in the constituency are Marathi. According to its leaders, the BJP’s putting up a Gujarati-speaking candidate will help them galvanise Marathi voters.
However, BJP candidate Murji Patel said, “People will choose development over sentiments and sympathy. I have always got the support of Marathi-speaking voters as well as Muslims, and this time too will not be an exception.”
Alliances put up united face
Since it is the first poll after the split in the Shiv Sena and the change in the state government, both alliances are putting up a united front against each other, with the Congress and NCP going all out to ensure that their voters fully support Rujuta Latke, and the Shinde faction of the Sena ensuring that the BJP candidate is supported by its cadre. The poll’s outcome will also determine if the Shiv Sena and Congress can formally join forces for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections due later this year or in early 2023.
“I can say with conviction that if the BJP loses this battle, it will be a major loss of face for them. We, on the other hand, have little to lose. But a victory for the Shiv Sena will serve as a major morale-booster for the BMC polls,” said Anil Parab, who, as the local vibhag pramukh, is also leading the charge for the party.
The MVA, however, has witnessed dissident voices, with many party office-bearers resigning in protest of the Congress decision to back a Sena candidate. “The alliance with the Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is not in the interests of the party. If the party wants to keep its existence floating in Mumbai, it needs to fight against the Sena for its corruption in the BMC over the last three decades,” said Congress leader and All India Congress Committee member Vishwabandhu Rai in a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi.
In the three by-elections that have taken place since 2019, the BJP has won one (Pandharpur-Mangalwedha), while the MVA has won two (Kolhapur North and Deglur). All the three by-polls were fought by the MVA as an alliance against the BJP.
Mumbai-based political analyst Hemant Desai said, “Because of the recent political developments in the state, the by-poll has become a battleground for parties struggling for their prestige. The real issues of the constituency are unlikely to be addressed in the election. The outcome of the election will, however, have a significant impact on politics in future.”
In 2019, Ramesh Latke had secured 62,773 votes in the Andheri East constituency, while Patel, a former corporator, who has in the past been part of the Congress, NCP and the Shiv Sena, fought as an independent and got 45,808. Amin Kutty of the Congress had cornered 27,951 votes.
The constituency has been represented by former health minister Suresh Shetty of the Congress as well. However, Shetty lost the 2014 election badly and ended up in the third position. The Shiv Sena and BJP had fought the polls separately in a neck-and-neck fight. The Sena’s Ramesh Latke polled 52,817 votes against the BJP’s Sunil Yadav’s 47,338. Shetty polled 37,929 votes.