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Lok Sabha election 2019: In phase 4, political heirs and actors in fray in Maharashtra
Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, will hold elections in 17 seats in the fourth round of the seven-phased general election on Monday.
It will be a battle of alliances once again in Maharashtra during Monday’s polling as the BJP and Congress with their allies seek to retain and win back the seats they lost in the last Lok Sabha election.
Maharashtra, which sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha, will hold elections in 17 seats in the fourth round of the seven-phased general election on Monday.
This phase includes three parliamentary constituencies from western Maharashtra, four from Konkan region, four from north Maharashtra and six seats from Mumbai. It will be the last phase of polling as it will cover all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Polling in 31 seats has already been held in the first three phases.
Read: Full coverage of Lok Sabha elections
In 2014, the Congress and Sharad Pawar-led National Congress Party (NCP) alliance lost all the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, which they had won in 2009. This time, the fight will be crucial as they are looking to regain their lost ground while the BJP and Shiv Sena combine are leaving no stone unturned to repeat its performance again.
Political expert Pratap Aasbe said this will be the most important and interesting phase of the polls in the state as it comprises all six seats from Mumbai and many glamorous and high profile candidates fighting it out.
Read: BJP looks to retain Mumbai North constituency
“Actors such as Urmila Matondkar and Amol Kolhe are in the fray. The future of political families of Pawar, Mahajan, Dutt and Deora are at stakes. However, it seems difficult for the BJP-Sena combine to retain all the six seats of Mumbai,” Aasbe said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has changed its candidate only on one seat of Mumbai North East owing to pressure from its ally Shiv Sena. The sitting member of Parliament (MP) Kirit Somaiya, who criticised Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during the 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, has been dropped.
Somaiya had accused Thackeray of corruption and alleged that the Sena-controlled BMC was in the grip of a powerful mafia run by a ‘saheb’ in Bandra (Thackeray’s residence). He had defeated Patil by a margin of over 3.17 lakh votes in the last general polls. Somaiya was replaced by municipal corporator Manoj Kotak, who is pitted against the NCP’s Sanjay Dina Patil, an MP from the constituency in 2009-14.
Read: Will Sena retain hold over Mumbai North West
In Mumbai South Lok Sabha, sitting Sena MP Arvind Sawant is facing competition from Congress candidate and party’s Mumbai president Milind Deora for the second consecutive time. In 2014, Sawant had defeated Deora, the then MP, by a margin of over 1.28 lakh votes.
In Mumbai South Central constituency, sitting Sena MP Rahul Shewale will face-off senior Congress leader and former MP Eknath Gaikwad for the second time. Shewale had defeated Gaikwad by a margin of over 1.38 lakh votes in the last election. The constituency comprises Dharavi, the biggest slum area in Asia.
Read: Mumbai North Central never repeats a party
In Mumbai North West constituency, sitting Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar and Congress’ former MP Sanjay Nirupam are contesting against each other. Kirtikar had defeated the then sitting MP and senior Congress leader Gurudas Kamat by a margin of over 1.83 lakh votes. Nirupam was the MP from Mumbai North constituency. On his request, Congress decided to change his constituency for the general polls.
In Mumbai North Central constituency, sitting BJP MP Poonam Mahajan is facing tough competition from former legislator Priya Dutt. Both the candidates come from political families — Mahajan is the daughter of late senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and Dutt father was late actor and former MP Sunil Dutt. In 2014, Mahajan had defeated Dutt by a margin of over 1.86 lakh votes.
Read: BJP looks to retain Mumbai North East
In Mumbai North constituency is facing another tight fight where the sitting BJP MP Gopal Shetty will have to defend the party’s bastion against Congress candidate and Bollywood actor Urmila Matondkar. Shetty had defeated the then sitting MP Sanjay Nirupam by a huge margin of 4.46 lakh votes. Actor Govinda was also the MP in 2004-09. As Congress candidate, he had defeated veteran BJP leader Ram Naik.
Shirur constituency, a part of western Maharashtra region, will also witness a big contest as Marathi actor Amol Kolhe is fighting against Sena heavyweight and three-term MP Shivajirao Patil. The NCP has roped Kolhe for his star appeal and oratory skills. The Shirur seat comprises a significant number of voters from the Mali community, which the NCP is trying to tap by fielding Kolhe, who belongs to the same community. In 2014, Patil had defeated Devdutta Nikam of the NCP by a big margin of 3.01 lakh votes.
Read: Mumbai South Central has been a Sena bastion
In Maval constituency, sitting Sena MP Shrirang Barne is also facing a tough fight against Parth Pawar, third generation member from NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s family. He is the son of former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Interestingly, the NCP chief was not keen on fielding Parth but eventually gave up to the family pressure. Since the seat was formed in 2008 following delimitation, both the attempts in 2009 and 2014 made by the NCP to win it have failed.
The party has forged an alliance with the Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWP) that has a strong presence in the constituency to ensure a win. In the 2014 polls, its candidate Laxman Jagtap was the first runner who has got over 3.54 lakh votes. Barna had defeated him by a margin of 1.57 lakh votes.
Read: All about Mumbai South
In Shirdi constituency, Sena candidate Sadashiv Lokhande is fighting Congress’ Bhausaheb Kamble. Former Congress leader Bhausaheb Wakchaure, who joined the BJP, is contesting as an Independent candidate. Wakchaure was a former Sena MP from the seat in 2009-14. In 2014, he lost the polls as the Congress candidate against Sena’s Sadashiv Lokhande by a margin of 1.99 lakh votes.
Another trouble the party is likely to face is from its Shirdi MLA and leader of opposition in the state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, who may help the Shiv Sena. Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay has joined the BJP to contest from the Ahmednagar Lok Sabha seat. Ahmednagar was with the NCP as part of the seat-sharing agreement with the Congress. Sujay wanted to contest from the seat which the NCP refused to leave for him. Patil is likely to remove from the position of opposition leader post elections.
Nandurbar constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and will see a tough tussle between Congress and BJP candidates. Known to be a Congress bastion, which the party has lost only thrice since Independence, Nandurbar had elected the BJP’s Heena Gavit as its representative in 2014. However, some of the decisions related to the tribals have upset the community, which account for about 70% of the voters. She is facing Congress KC Padvi and Sushil Anturlikar, who is contesting as a Vanchit Bahuja Aghadi nominee.
Nashik has been the stronghold of the Shiv Sena and Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It is also the home turf of NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal, a sitting MLA and former deputy chief minister. His nephew Sameer is the party’s candidate and former MP from the seat. A revolt by the BJP’s former MLA Manikrao Kokate may prove beneficial to the NCP candidate. The CPI(M) too has not fielded its candidate. The MNS is reportedly supporting Bhujbals. The constituency dominant Maratha votes followed by a sizeable voter share of Mali community and tribals.
Bypoll for the Palghar constituency last year witnessed a high voltage rivalry between the BJP and Shiv Sena after they fielded their candidates against each other. This time as part of the alliance, Shiv Sena has nominated the BJP’s sitting MP Rajendra Gavit as its candidate in the Lok Sabha election. Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) led by MLA Hitendra Thakur has a strong presence in the urban parts of the constituency, while in rural areas, tribals have a dominance.
Congress and CPI(M) are supporting the BVA candidate. Raj Thackeray’s MNS too has its tacit support to the BVA candidate, making it easier for the party. In 2014, the BJP’s Chintaman Wanga had defeated BVA’s Baliram Jadhav by a margin of over 2.39 lakh votes. Wanga’s death necessitated the by-polls last year.
The votes will be counted on May 23.
