Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena launched a new song for the Andheri East bypoll contest on November 3. The ‘Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ party’s song revolves around the party symbol mashal (‘flaming torch’) and speaks of giving justice to people and teaching a lesson to the backstabbers, a jibe apparently aimed at Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde who led a rebellion against Uddhav and later formed a government with the support of the BJP.
Earlier, the BJP decided to step back from contesting the Andheri East bypoll. This came after Raj Thackeray, cousin of former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, had requested the BJP to withdraw from the fray in reverence to late Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke, who died of a cardiac arrest in May this year.
While the BJP had pitted Murji Patel for the election against Latke’s widow Rujuta of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction had not fielded its candidate and decided to back Murji Patel. The polling will take place on November 3 and votes will be counted on November 6.
Latke, who worked in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as a clerk, could file her nomination for the bypolls only after a court ordered the civic body to accept her resignation. The move has paved the victory path for the beleaguered Uddhav camp, which has been smarting over Shinde’s rebellion and subsequent loss of power.
But why is a bypoll so crucial in Maharashtra politics? For starters, the result of the contest — the first major electoral battle in the state after power changed hands in Maharashtra — will set the tone for the coming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
For Uddhav Thackeray, the battle this time is personal and without the Sena’s three-decade-old bow-and-arrow symbol as well as its party name. He not only needs to strengthen his faction and cadre but also claim his father Bal Thackeray’s legacy which has been appropriated by Shinde since he engineered a vertical split in the Sena ranks and file.
Shiv Sena had won the constituency for two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019. In 2019, Sena’s Ramesh Latke won after securing 62,773 votes while Murji Patel, then an independent candidate, was his closest rival with 45,808 votes. Congress’s Amin Kutty was third, securing 27,951 votes, Hindustan Times reported.
The Andheri East Assembly constituency is one of the 26 segments located in the Mumbai Suburban district. It is part of the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency. It has a significant proportion of Marathi-speaking voters, followed by North Indians, South Indians, Christians and Muslims.
The result of the by-election will help gauge the mood among voters over the change of guard in Maharashtra, considering the parent party — which stood for the ideals of Hindutva and ‘Marathi Manoos’ — has now been split into two factions.
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