Mumbai votes on Thursday in the third and last phase of polling in Maharashtra. In the 2009 elections, the Congress-NCP combine had won all six seats in the city but it is a performance that it unlikely to see a repeat in this election.
Among the prominent contenders from the city are sitting MPs from the Congress Milind Deora, Priya Dutt and Sanjay Nirupam. The BJP’s candidates include Kirit Somaiya and Poonam Mahajan, daughter of slain party leader Pramod Mahajan. Among those fielded by the Aam Admi Party are social activist Medha Patkar and former banker Meera Sanyal. Film director Mahesh Manjrekar is contesting from Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
The MNS had played a critical role in the 2009 polls in the city. It polled over a lakh votes in each of six constituencies, dividing the saffron vote. This led to the Congress-NCP winning five seats. Only Priya Dutt of the Congress won regardless of the MNS factor, her votes being higher than the tally of both the MNS the BJP put together.
However, this time the MNS is contesting only three of the six seats. After declaring his support for the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Mr. Thackeray decided not to field candidates for the three seats the BJP is contesting.
Mr. Deora in South Mumbai is likely to benefit from the division of Marathi votes between Shiv Sena candidate Arvind Sawant and Bala Nandgaonkar of the MNS.
With AAP’s Ms Patkar likely to cut into Congress-NCP votes in the Mumbai North East constituency, making things tough for sitting MP Sanjay Dina Patil. With no MNS candidate here, the BJP’s Kirit Somaiya has emerged as a strong contender.
Ms. Dutt in Mumbai North-Central is a strong candidate but faces a setback with rebellion from local MLAs and a Samajwadi Party candidate who could take Muslim votes away from the party. Also, the MNS has not fielded a candidate from here.
Gurudas Kamat, the Congress MP from Mumbai North-West is facing a four-corner battle. Senior Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar and Bollywood star Mahesh Manjrekar from the MNS, along with Mayank Gandhi of AAP are the other candidates.
Congress MP and party spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam is engaged in one-on-one battle with the BJP candidate Gopal Shetty in North Mumbai.
Besides the Mumbai seats, 13 other constituencies will be voting in this phase of the polls. The first two phases saw a rise of around 7-8 per cent in the voter turnout, sparking talk of an anti-incumbency wave against the Congress-NCP government.
Another key contest will be from Nasik where NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal is contesting his first-ever parliamentary election.
The battle in Nandurbar has become the prestige issue for the Congress, as it is the only seat in the state which the party has won consistently since Independence. The Congress party’s oldest MP Manikrao Gavit is contesting against Heena Gavit, the daughter of rebel NCP minister Vijaykumar Gavit.
In Raigad, the NCP has fielded Minister Sunil Tatkare but he faces the rebellion of Congress leader and former Chief Minister A R Antulay. Mr. Antulay has openly sought votes for the Peasants and Workers Party.
In North Maharashtra, the BJP is hoping to continue its dominance over Jalgaon and Raver constituencies. The saffron alliance is banking on the ‘Modi wave’ to retain its two other seats of Aurangabad and Jalna from Marathwada region.
Key Contests
Mumbai North: Sanjay Nirupam (Cong) versus Gopal Shetty (BJP)
Mumbai North West: Gurudas Kamat (Cong) versus Gajanan Kirtikar (Shiv Sena) versus Mahesh Manjrekar (MNS) versus Mayank Gandhi (AAP)
Mumbai North East: Sanjay Patil (NCP) versus Kirit Somaiya (BJP) versus Medha Patkar (AAP)
Mumbai North Central: Priya Dutt (Cong) versus Poonam Mahajan (BJP) versus Farhan Azmi (SP)
Mumbai South Central: Eknath Gaikwad (Cong) versus Rahul Shewale (Shiv Sena) versus Aditya Shirodkar (MNS)
Mumbai South: Milind Deora (Cong) versus Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena) versus Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS) versus Meera Sanyal (AAP)
Nasik: Chhagan Bhujbal (NCP) versus Pradeep Pawar (MNS) versus Hemant Godse (Shiv Sena) versus Vijay Pandhare (AAP)
Nandurbar: Manikrao Gavit (Cong) versus Heena Gavit (BJP)
Raigad: Anant Gite (Shiv Sena) versus Sunil Tatkare (NCP) versus Ramesh Kadam (PWP)
Aurangabad: Chandrakant Khaire (Shiv Sena) versus Nitin Patil (Cong)
Voter turnout in Mumbai
Constituency | 2004 | 2009 |
Mumbai North | 47.07 | 42.60 |
Mumbai North West | 49.33 | 44.06 |
Mumbai North East | 46.88 | 42.46 |
Mumbai North Central | 46.05 | 39.52 |
Mumbai South Central | 49.40 | 39.50 |
Mumbai South | 44.22 | 40.37 |
Average | 47.15 | 41.41 |
