The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on November 3 launched a new song for the Andheri East by-election contest. The party song ‘Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray’ revolves around the party’s symbol Mashal (‘Flaming torch’) and talks about giving justice to the people and teaching one. Lessons to the backstabbers, apparently targeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who led the rebellion against Uddhav and later formed the government with the support of the BJP.
Earlier, the BJP decided to withdraw from contesting the Andheri East bypoll. This came after former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray’s cousin Raj Thackeray requested the BJP to step down from the fray in honor of late Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latte, who died of cardiac arrest in May this year.
While the BJP had fielded Murji Patel against Rujuta, the widow of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, the Shiv Sena faction led by Eknath Shinde did not field its candidate and decided to support Murji Patel. Voting will be held on November 3 and the counting of votes will take place on November 6.
Latte, who worked as a clerk in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), could file her nomination for the by-election only after the court ordered the civic body to accept her resignation. The move has paved the way for victory for the crisis-ridden Uddhav camp, which has been shrewd on Shinde’s rebellion and subsequent loss of power.
But why is by-election so important in Maharashtra politics? For starters, the result of the contest – the first major electoral battle in the state after the change of power in Maharashtra – will set the tone for the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
For Uddhav Thackeray, the fight this time is personal and without the Sena’s three-decade-old bow-and-arrow symbol as well as his party’s name. He needs to not only strengthen his faction and cadre, but also lay claim to the legacy of his father Bal Thackeray, which Shinde has appropriated ever since he created a vertical split in the ranks and file of the Army.
Shiv Sena had won the constituency for two consecutive terms in 2014 and 2019. In 2019, Sena’s Ramesh Latke won by securing 62,773 votes, while Murji Patel, an independent candidate, was his nearest rival with 45,808 votes. Congress’s Amin Kutty came third with 27,951 votes. Hindustan Times informed of.
Andheri East assembly constituency is one of the 26 constituencies located in the Mumbai Suburban district. It is a 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 bypoll result will help gauge the mood of voters for change of power in Maharashtra, as the original party, which stood for the ideals of Hindutva and ‘Marathi Manush’, has now split into two factions.
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