Sena battle for Mumbai last up as LS poll race is set to conclude in Maharashtra

Of the six parliamentary seats in Mumbai, the constituencies of Mumbai North West, Mumbai South, and Mumbai South Central will see a direct fight between the Shiv Sena led by Shinde and Uddhav’s Shiv Sena (UBT). In 2019, the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won these three along with Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, and Mumbai North.

How the battle lines are drawn

With voting in Mumbai and four other seats, the Lok Sabha elections will conclude in Maharashtra on Monday.

In Mumbai North, a seat that it has won the last two times, the BJP has fielded Union Minister Piyush Goyal who is making his Lok Sabha poll debut. Up against him is Mumbai Congress vice-president Bhushan Patil.

Mumbai North Central will see another high-voltage clash between former public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikkam, who has handled high-profile cases such as the trial of Ajmal Kasab, will take on Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad. The BJP initially fielded sitting MP Poonam Mahajan from the seat but later replaced her with Nikam. Meanwhile, in Mumbai North East, MLA Mihir Kotecha of the BJP is facing the constituency’s former MP Sanjay Dina Patil of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Apart from Goyal and Nikam’s contests, all eyes will be on the other three constituencies. In Mumbai North West, it is a direct contest between former state minister Ravindra Waikar of the Shiv Sena and Uddhav’s candidate Amol Kiritkar who is the son of sitting MP Ganjan Kiritkar who has won the seat the last two times. In Mumbai South, the Sena has chosen to go with first-time MLA Yamini Jadhav, who is married to former BMC standing committee chairperson Yashwant Jadhav while Sena (UBT) has renominated two-time sitting MP Arvind Sawant. In Mumbai South Central, two-time sitting MP Rahul Shewale has been renominated by the Shiv Sena. He will face off against former Rajya Sabha MP and Uddhav’s backroom strategist Anil Desai.

How the campaign unfolded

In an attempt to broaden his party’s support base, Uddhav Thackeray actively reached out to the Muslim community, which is estimated to constitute about 16-20% of the city’s population.

The Shiv Sena (UBT)’s focus in the four constituencies where it is in the fray was on areas with sizable Muslim population such as Govandi, Anushakti Nagar, Mankhurd, Mahim, Kurla, Bandra East and West, Bycullah, Khetwadi, Jogeshwari East and West, Dindoshi, Oshiwara, Masjid Bunder, and Umarkhadi.

This drew a strong reaction from Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP who told The Indian Express in a recent interview, “The kind of appeasement of minorities, the Muslim community, that Uddhav Thackeray is doing, even the Congress never did such appeasement. Uddhav Thackeray is trying to compensate for falling vote share with Muslim votes. Imagine what would have happened had Pakistan’s flag appeared at the rally of Balasaheb Thackeray. At his (Uddhav) rally, Pakistan flags are visible. It is not only green flags but the actual flag of Pakistan. And he is mum about it. Pro-Tipu Sultan slogans are being raised but he is not uttering a word. He has realised he can cover up for a deficit of votes in this election by minority appeasement.”

But for some Muslim voters, Uddhav has managed to strike a chord. “In Uddhav Thackeray, we see a moderate leader. He is reassuring. Not like the BJP which has shunned Muslims,” said Mohammad Noor, a resident of Prem Nagar in Jogeshwari East.

While for the MVA the support of Marathis, Muslims, and Dalits is crucial, the ruling Mahayuti alliance is banking on north Indians and Gujaratis. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has campaigned in Mumbai to consolidate north Indian voters. The Narendra Modi factor is also something that the ruling alliance is banking on. Modi who addressed a rally in Shivaji Park on Friday said Mumbai was “crucial to the BJP’s developmental pitch of Viksit Bharat”.

But beyond the national issues, infrastructure and other local issues such as slum redevelopment and healthcare also figured among the talking points in the campaign. Speaking about the government’s achievements, Fadnavis told The Indian Express, “Being in government what you deliver through governance helps earn public goodwill. We delivered results. Our focus was development. When individuals travel through Atal Setu, Coastal Road, or the metro, he or she looks at the work done.”

Meanwhile, the “neglect of Mumbai and Maharashtra” was a prominent theme in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance’s campaign. On the campaign trail, former CM Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress spoke of the “relocation of industrial projects” such as Vedanta Foxconn to Gujarat, adding that it would be an issue for Mumbaikars and “have an impact on polls”.

Uddhav also raised the issue at a recent rally, accusing the BJP and the Shiv Sena of not only stealing his “father’s (Balasaheb Thackeray) party” but also running away “with Mumbai projects to Gujarat”. At the concluding big rally in Mumbai on Friday, the former CM also targeted PM Modi for whipping up fear of “Muslims and Pakistan” while people ask for food, jobs, and security.