Cong, Sena, ABS, AIMIM fight it out in Byculla

The Congress or Shiv Sena – who will wrest the Byculla seat from the AIMIM? With a four-cornered contest, all prominent parties are fancying their chances in this

The Congress or Shiv Sena – who will wrest the Byculla seat from the AIMIM? With a four-cornered contest, all prominent parties are fancying their chances in this constituency.

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While the Shiv Sena has fielded Yamini Jadhav, wife of standing committee chairman Yashwant Jadhav; the Congress has given a ticket to Madhukar Chavan, who was the former Mhada president. Also in the fray are Geeta Gawli (Akhil Bhartiya Sena), daughter of gangster Arun Gawli, and Waris Pathan (AIMIM), the sitting legislator. An independent candidate, actor Ajaz Khan, who starred in a TV reality show, is drawing eyeballs with his antics.

Muslims make up for more than 40% population in this constituency. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, Congress’s Milind Deora took a lead of 28,675 votes in this segment, over his Sena rival Arvind Sawant. Despite this, Chavan, who has represented this constituency twice, faces a tough fight, as sitting MLA Waris Pathan is once again in the race and has the potential to damage his prospects by splitting the party’s Muslim votes. “Waris Pathan was a complete failure as a MLA. I worked round-the-clock and took up the problems of voters. Pathan may get some votes, but it will have no effect on my comfortable win,” said Chavan.

Former Congress corporator Faiyyaz Ahmed who enjoys considerable support has defected to the AIMIM, becoming the chief of the Mumbai unit of the party.

In the past one year, Yashwant Jadhav has been working overtime to secure support for his wife, Yamini. He has wooed local groups and ensured defection from other parties, the notable being former Congress corporator Manoj Jamsudkar, who wields good clout in this ward. “The Lok Sabha voting will have no bearing on the Assembly polls. Both my husband and I have worked hard and people will vote for the Sena,” said Yamini, who also served as a corporator.

The Sena is hoping Waris Pathan will split Muslim votes, which will benefit them. However, the BJP has been upset as it hoped to secure the seat instead of the Sena.

The Byculla constituency covers Dockyard, Mazgaon, Reay Road, Clare Road, Madanpura, Agripada and a part of Nagpada dominated by old chawls, which are in a dilapidated condition. In addition, parking is a major issue along with shortage of water.

The current legislator, Pathan, does not look confident, as was evident when AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi apologised to the voters for his lacklustre performance. “I agree that Pathan should have worked harder. I apologize on his behalf. You look at me and vote for the AIMIM. I assure you I will take responsibility to nurture the Byculla constituency,” said Owaisi.

The ABS is also campaigning aggressively for Geeta, as she aims to emulate her father who had won the assembly seat in 2004.

Local citizens point that the contribution of the elected representatives is almost nil. “The entire infrastructure has virtually collapsed and quality of the life has deteriorated considerably,” said Ashraf Khan, who heads a local NGO.

Khan, who said he was forced into the fray, claims he needs power to tackle the issues.

“Every time I raised an issue for minorities, I was put in jail. Hence it was necessary for me to contest the elections and gain power to work for the people,” said Khan.