Samajwadi Party’s (SP) State chief Abu Azmi faces a stiff contest in his stronghold of Mankhurd-Shivajinagar this time. Giving the two-term Member of the Legislative Assembly from the area a tough fight this time is the Shiv Sena’s Vitthal Lokare. Mr. Lokare recently quit the Congress to join the Sena and has a following among the area’s Marathi population. However, the majority Muslim population may not vote for the saffron party and may give Mr. Azmi a third term.
One of the city’s most underdeveloped areas, the Mankhurd-Shivajinagar constituency consists of housing societies, chawls and sprawling slums in Shivaji Nagar, Rafiq Nagar, Bainganwadi, and parts of Deonar. The slums consist of pucca or makeshift multistoreyed structures in the area’s narrow lanes, which have seen incidents of fire or building collapses in the past. The residents also face acute water shortage as most either do not have a legal water connection, or the existing ones do not receive water. This leads to people having to buy water at exorbitant rates.
“People spend a large amount every month on simply buying water. Before the previous Assembly election, Abu Azmi said he would resolve the area’s water problem, but five years on, the problem persists. Some people even use creek water, and that leads to health issues,” said Mumtaz Shaikh, an activist associated with the M-East Project and Right to Pee campaign. “Besides, children do not have a playground or open spaces. At Rajiv Gandhi maidan, Mr. Azmi first made a dispensary, then a gym and party office. Now, we don’t even get entry,” she said. Traffic congestion is another major issue in the area.
“The biggest problem plaguing the area is drug abuse. Schoolgoing children are consuming drugs with the police not being able to do anything. The other problem is the Deonar dumping ground. People of this area are fighting for the closure of this ground for years as it causes severe respiratory diseases. There is a plant here that processes biomedical waste. The fumes lead to severe health issues,” said Yusuf Siddiqui, a resident of Shivaji Nagar.
In 2014, the area had 3.09 lakh voters, but just 1.27 lakh cast their votes. Abu Azmi got 41,719 votes while the Sena’s Suresh Patil won 31,782 votes. In 2009, the area had 1.14 lakh voters. Mr. Azmi won 38,435 votes against the Congress’s Syed Ahmed, who got 24,318 votes.
Mr. Azmi is the State president of the SP; known for his controversial statements. He was recently trying for an alliance with the Congress-NCP in Maharashtra but the talks fell through. The SP is now contesting on its own.
Mr. Lokare is a three-term corporator from the Shivaji Nagar. He left the Shiv Sena along with Narayan Rane and joined the Congress. Around a month ago, Mr. Lokare returned to the Sena while Mr. Rane recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mr. Lokare’s wife is also a former corporator.
Mr Lokare faced initial hiccups when former Sena corporator Suresh Patil also filed his nomination to contest the election as an independent but retracted his application. The Congress’s Sufiyan Wanu too filed his nomination but retracted it. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has not fielded anyone from the area while the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi has fielded Suraiya Shaikh.
According to his affidavit, Mr. Azmi has 10 first information reports against him including criminal cases and breach of model code of conduct. He has declared assets worth around ₹200 crore, making him one of the richest candidates in Maharashtra. Mr. Lokare has declared assets totalling ₹1.3 crore. He has no criminal cases against him.
