Maharashtra Assembly Polls: In Raj's backyard, rare MNS sighting

The Sena is seeking votes for Sada Sarvankar, whose wife died recently

The battle between Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) for Mahim continues for a third consecutive time. While the MNS is trying to woo Sena's vote bank in Shivaji Park by concentrating on Brahmins, CKPs (Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu) and GSBs (Goud Saraswat Brahmins), the Sena is banking on ally BJP's Gujarati vote bank to gain an upper hand.

Sena has its senior leader, Sada Sarvankar, to hold the fort while MNS chief Raj Thackeray has placed his bets on the party's loyal face, Sandeep Deshpande. Mahim constituency, which includes areas such as Dadar, Shivaji Park, Prabhadevi, Mahim Koliwada among others and administratively falls under the G North ward of the BMC is one of the wards with a high Maharashtrian population.

The area was known to be a Sena bastion until it was disturbed by the MNS's win in 2009. But with redevelopment coming to the area, business communities such as Gujaratis, Jains and Marawadis have also made it their home, forming about 20 per cent of the population. Their effect was seen during the 2014 assembly polls.

Sandeep Deshpande

BJP had in 2014 catered to a majority of the upper-middle class vote bank in Shivaji Park that is said to have affected the MNS's vote bank. However, its star face, Deshpande, is cashing in on his Brahmin card to woo voters in Dadar and is also getting support from Nitin Sardesai, former MLA from the area. An MNS leader from the area said, "We have appealed voters to look at the work that has been done by MNS such as getting rid of the hawker menace and better roads when they were in power. We are positive that the votes will turn in our favour as 2014's winning margin between the MNS and Sena candidates was hardly 6,000."

On the other hand, Sena's Gujarati votes that went to the BJP in 2014, could now go to them, in addition to sympathy votes as its candidate lost his wife a few months ago. A Sena leader from the area said, "While we are confident about Prabhadevi as a Sena stronghold, we also realise that the demography has changed. As there is a huge vote bank of the business community, which the BJP secured in 2014, we have already appealed our ally to help us get those."

Also read: Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2019: Lukewarm response noticed as less than 6 per cent voters turnout till 10 am

The BJP candidate had earned a little over 33,000 votes during the 2014 assembly polls. However, sources from the MNS claimed that many from the Brahmin community too have shifted to the BJP candidate, but that the votes will be pulled back. Further, the remaining 20 per cent population that consists of Muslims, Christians and others, have diverse preferences. With just two days left for the polling day, all candidates are relying on door-to-door campaigning and back-door meetings with housing societies and community mandals.

6k
2014 winning marging between Sena, MNS

20%
Proportion of the business communities in the constituency

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