Lok Sabha elections 2024: Exploring the Mumbai North constituency

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has modified its stance on the Mumbai North seat ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. BJP MP Gopal Shetty's ticket has been annulled, and Union Minister Piyush Goyal has been nominated in his place. Piyush Goyal is a Rajya Sabha member until recently.

The Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat is the same seat for which Congress' Sanjay Nirupam has gone into a rebellion mode, Nirupam was expelled by the party later. The former Congress leader had been eyeing the Mumbai North West seat which he lost in the 2019 elections.

The constituency:

Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat includes six assembly constituencies: Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali East, Magathane, Malad West, and Charkop. The area extends from Dahisar East Chekanaka to Malad East Kurar Village. In contrast, the western sector, which extends from Dahisar West to Malad, includes Malvani and Evershine Nagar in North Mumbai. BJP MLAs hold four of the Lok Sabha constituency's six assembly seats. Sunil Rane in Borivali, Manisha Chaudhary in Dahisar, Atul Bhatkhalkar in Kandivali East, and Yogesh Sagar in Charkop are BJP MLAs, while Prakash Surve of the Shiv Sena-led by CM Eknath Shinde is the MLA from Magathane. Only one assembly constituency, Malad West, has a Congress MLA, Aslam Shaikh.

Elections so far:

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Congress had fielded Urmila Matondkar from the Mumbai North Lok sabha seat. Urmila was expected to give a tough fight to BJP's Gopal Shetty, but she failed to show any charisma. The seat was won by BJP's Gopal Shetty.

Gopal Shetty received 706,678 (72.27 per cent) votes, while Urmila Matondkar received 241,431 votes, or 24.69 per cent. Ram Naik, a senior BJP leader, held this seat for a long time. To defeat Ram Naik, Congress had fielded Bollywood actor Govinda, who recently joined the Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Govinda had defeated Ram Naik in the 2004 election by over 48,000 votes.

Meanwhile, in 2008, Govinda declared his desire to leave active politics, surprising Congress supporters who had helped him win.

However, in 2009, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam was elected to this seat. In the next election in 2014, Gopal Shetty won the seat and occupied this seat since then.

Slum rehabilitation in Mumbai North constituency:

The locals suggest that the main issue in North Mumbai is slum rehabilitation. Many slums have been rehabilitated, but the people who live there still lack adequate housing. A considerable number of people reside inside the forest department's boundaries, and their rehabilitation is a major issue. A local, who lives in the Dahisar area which falls under the constituency, says his house was redeveloped but he has yet to receive his new home. Shivshankar Tiwari's residence is in the Ketki Pada region, and he claims that despite paying for years, he has yet to be rehabilitated. Dinesh Pandey, who lives here with his family, has yet to acquire a water connection.

Sources say, there has been an increase of 95, 492 voters in this election compared to the 2019 elections. Now there are a total of 17,42 700 voters registered in North Mumbai.

The polls:

With 48 Lok Sabha seats, Maharashtra is the second-largest contributor to the lower house of Parliament, trailing Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 23 of 25 contested seats, while the Shiv Sena won 18 seats. The unified NCP, as part of the opposition alliance, ran for 19 seats and won four.

The polls in Maharashtra will be held in five phases on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, and May 20, with vote counting on June 4. The fifth and final phase of voting will be held on May 20, 2024, in 13 constituencies: Washim, Dindori, Nashik, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Welfare, Thane, Mumbai North, Mumbai North West, Mumbai North East, Mumbai North Central, Mumbai South Central, and Mumbai South.