Gopal Shetty, BJP’s candidate from Mumbai North, sought comfort in his achievements over the past five years and the familiarity of the nook and corners in his constituency as he began his election campaign on Friday morning.
The incumbent MP’s first stop was Siddheshawar Temple in Borivali (East), where he paid obeisance to the deity at 9.30 a.m. He then climbed on to a makeshift chariot along with BJP city president Ashish Shelar and Charkop MLA Yogesh Sagar as a large number of people from the Gujarati, Marathi and Muslim communities gathered to support him.
Mr. Shelar said, “A Congress probable from here, Sanjay Nirupam, has run away looking at Mr. Shetty’s popularity. Now they [Congress] have brought a Bollywood star to rescue themselves from a looming defeat. The Bollywood people do not stay and work for the masses in the long run as we have seen with [actor] Mr. Govinda earlier.”
Mr. Sagar said, “In 2004, when Govinda defeated Ram Naik ji , there was a massive anti-incumbency wave against the sitting MP. But there is no such issue with Mr. Shetty. The entry of Urmilaji has made the contest interesting, nothing more.”
At a small tea shop in Dev Nagar, also identified as municipal ward 17, several old women gave Mr. Shetty their blessings before offering him tea. He politely declined. The BJP MP is believed to often stop at the corner tea shop since the start of his political career.
Bhagyashi Shinde, owner of a tea shop in Poinsur, said, “This area was just a jungle, but this man developed into what it is today. I have no issues with water and sanitation even though I run a shop on the footpath. It is only because of the work of one man: Gopal Shetty.”
Mr. Shetty’s chariot stopped at gymkhanas and parks mostly developed using the money from his funds from the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme. At Poinsur Gymkhana, he spoke about growing up in the slums and working for the constituency, which is home to 18 lakh voters distributed over 39 municipal wards. Of these, 24 remain with the BJP and 15 with the Shiv Sena.
Gyanmurti Sharma, former BJP corporator who accompanied Mr. Shetty on the campaign trail, said, “No Bollywood actor can dislodge Mr. Shetty simply because of his impeccable record. As many as 19 plots have been developed by him into gardens for the people of this area. What more can a man do in a space-starved city like Mumbai?”
Mr. Shetty is fighting his seventh election from the area, including as a municipal corporator and member of the Legislative Assembly. He was in the news recently for surrendering public land, including the Poinsur Gymkhana, Kamla Vihar Sports Complex, and Veer Savarkar Udyan plots, which had been directly or indirectly placed under his control in 2016. Supporters said the MP had developed 50 acres of unused land into gardens during his tenure.
“We have a total of 45,000 Jain voters in this area, and each one is indebted to Mr. Shetty for developing green open spaces,” said Jayesh Modi, a local shop owner.
Mr. Shetty’s chariot traversed from Dev Nagar, Sai Baba Nagar, Ram Nagar to Kerkar Gym and finally halted at Brahma Vishnu Mahesh Mandir in Shimpoli.
