Andheri East bypoll: Raj Thackeray requests BJP to withdraw its candidate

Raj Thackeray at Orchid Hotel in Vile Parle on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray has added to the drama surrounding the Andheri East Assembly by-poll. On Sunday, he appealed to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to withdraw its candidate from the contest to leave the seat for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena's Rutuja Latke, the widow of Ramesh Latke whose death has caused the mid-term poll.

With Monday being the last day for nomination withdrawal, Raj wrote to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday and posted the letter on social media. A day before releasing the letter, Raj had a meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday. There have been talks of holding the by-poll unopposed, but it seemed that the estranged parties have not been able to confer about it in a manner suitable for such deliberations, needing a third party to break the ice.

In response, Fadnavis said Raj's appeal will be discussed with the BJP party high command and colleagues and the ally, CM Shinde's Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray welcomed the gesture and said it was prepared to contest and win the by-poll even if polling was held. BJP's Murji Patel has filed his nomination. MNS, which contested unsuccessfully in 2009 getting over 25,000 votes and 2014 (over 9,000), but skipped the 2019 election, is not in the race. Its absence benefitted the Sena in 2019. Raj has not declared his support to any party in the by-poll. Observers saw multiple impacts of the appeal.

Also Read: Mumbai: The battle for cosmopolitan Andheri East

Rutuja Latke. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

"If not honoured, it could give an edge to Raj cousin's candidate whose major plank is sympathy and Marathi vote bank which otherwise gets split between the Thackerays," said an insider, but he also added that on the other side, the unopposed election will deny the Thackeray Sena the much-needed traction ahead of the BMC polls, especially when it has been allotted a new election symbol. In revival mode, MNS will be a party to watch out for in the BMC polls multi-corner contests.

Special request

Addressing Fadnavis as ‘dear friend', Raj said, "I am writing this letter with a special request. His (Latke's) widow, Rujuta Latke has filed her candidature for the same (Andheri by-poll). Shri Ramesh was an efficient worker who began his journey moving from being a ‘shakha-pramukh'. I have witnessed his journey and growth in the political arena. After his death, to see his wife become an MLA in his constituency; will be solace to his departed soul."

"I sincerely request you to not enter this by-poll and put up a candidate against Rujuta Latke. Whenever, there has been a situation, wherein a sitting MLA has passed away and a family member has filed for their candidature, our party has refrained from fighting the by-poll. This is our way of paying our reverence to the departed soul," Raj said further. "I appeal to you with these sentiments in mind. Sentiments such as these are part of our Maharashtra's culture. I hope you will consider my appeal," said the MNS chief.

Pawar endorses

Raj found endorsement in the Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, who said there shouldn't be a poll when the regular polls will be held in another one and a half years or so. "The unopposed election will send a good message across the state," he said.

Fadnavis said he alone could not decide in the party. "Even if I have to think about it I will have to discuss it with my party high command, party colleagues and CM Eknath Shinde, who is with us, because we have not only announced a candidate but fielded him as well," he said, adding, "He (Raj) has written a letter out of good sentiment." The DyCM said that the city BJP president Ashish Shelar had met Raj on Sunday to seek his support for the party's candidate. "Raj Thackeray expressed the sentiment to Shelar and later wrote a letter to me."

About the proposal he said, "Whenever we were requested in an appropriate manner in the past, we had acted accordingly. It is not that we haven't honoured such appeals. It happened in (the late) RR Patil's case and a couple of legislative council polls," he said.

Thackeray Sena spokesperson Arvind Sawant said it was a letter that had to show our culture to the BJP, but added that it was better late than never. "The party that has frozen our party name and symbol on the pretext that they will be misused in the Andheri by-poll has been lying. Where are they? Are they contesting the election?" he asked, hoping for better sense.

Uddhav Thackeray thanked Pawar for showing the way even as his silence on Raj's letter to Fadnavis spoke a thousand words. His statement on Sunday heavily praised Pawar, but didn't mention his cousin. "The Shiv Sena family will be grateful to Pawar saheb for raising the point at his press conference. Yashwantrao Chavan, Balasaheb Thackeray, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Pramod Mahajan and Sharad Pawar have taken our culture to a new level. I expect that state politics will abide by morality and culture under the guidance of great senior leaders," he said in a statement, adding that Shiv Sena has always valued Maharashtra's cultural values.