Maharashtra assembly elections: North Indians vie for increasing community’s share in Assembly

To ensure their good representation in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the city's north Indian aspirants across party lines are lobbying hard to get election tickets this year. Traditionally, the Congress has been giving more representation to the community, including Hindus and Muslims. But now eyes are also set on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to field more from the migrant communities that have sided with it since 2014.

Competition is fierce in the Congress and BJP. It is because Congress had an unexpectedly higher traction in the Lok Sabha polls, and that has inspired north Indians to fill the void created by defections to the BJP. The Congress has some competitive Muslim candidates who find their roots up north, but the real issue in the party is about non-Muslim north Indians.

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There was a time when north Indians supported the Congress and its ally NCP to have their MLAs and ministers from both Hindu and Muslim communities. In its first regime, the BJP had made Goregaon MLA Vidya Thakur a minister.

In the coming times, the community expects returns from the BJP for standing by its side. It was because of the north Indians' hard push that BJP had become the single largest party in the city. The community has about 17 per cent of the total voters of the city. The Muslims have a 19 per cent share but not all of them come from up north.

A constituent of two major alliances, especially the Shiv Sena factions depends largely on the sons of the soil theory, yet north Indians favouring them want a share of representation from their respective parties. NCP (Sharad Pawar) and its rival Ajit Pawar faction are likely to go for north Indian Muslims in the segments where they had succeeded in the past as an undivided force.

Shinde Sena's placement of candidates hinges on the availability of north Indian-dominated segments and suitable candidates. Samajwadi Party has Abu Azmi and it will need more if it gets more seats to contest in MVA. Overall in all parties, the space is so tight that it will be difficult for seven parties in the field to fit many north Indians in the city's regionalism/ethnicity-driven politics.

Two senior north Indian political faces, Kripashankar Singh and Rajhans Singh, who were part of the Congress, are now vying for a BJP ticket. Both are contenders for Kalina. MLC Rajhans Singh is also trying for Dindoshi that he had represented for the Congress, but he has competition from his BJP colleagues Gyanmurti Sharma and Vinod Mishra. Kripashankar had contested the Jaunpur Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh because he could not be accommodated in Mumbai. He lost there and is now willing to test the Kalina waters.

Rajhans Singh's PhD holder son Dr Nitesh Singh, and Amarajit Singh are also contenders for Kalina. However, it is not clear if the Shinde Sena will concede Kalina and Dindoshi seats to the BJP. It is said that the BJP is insisting on having Kalina, if not Dindoshi, where Shinde Sena's Sanjay Nirupam is interested in fighting the rival Sena. In Andheri East, the CM's party has Swikruti Sharma, the wife of former police officer Pradeep Sharma, as a prospective nominee. Shinde Sena is also vying for Chandivli, where Congress's Naseem Khan is confirmed to avenge his 400-vote defeat five years ago. Kurla is another segment that Shinde's party wants.

BJP's two-time MLA from Goregaon, Vidya Thakur is expected to be repeated from the same place. Malad is another segment where north Indians have a large presence. Congress' three-time MLA Aslam Shaikh, a Mulsim, has been ruling there. It is said that the BJP is thinking of fielding a Maharashtrian candidate there instead of a north Indian. North Indian leaders of BJP, RU Singh and Ramesh Thakur have shown interest in Malad. Versova is where a solid battle is expected if former IPS officer Sanjay Pandey takes the field as a Congress candidate. BJP's Mohit Kamboj Bharatiya is most likely to challenge his north Indian rival. Kamboj told mid-day that he would follow Pandey wherever he goes (to contest).

In Versova, the BJP will have to displace its sitting MLA Bharti Lavekar to make space for a fresh candidate. However, if Pandey doesn't contest from Versova, the party will have options in Sanjay Pandey, who heads BJP's Uttar Bharatiya (north Indian) Morcha, and Acharya Pawan Tripathi, city BJP's vice-president, and a hardcore Hindutva activist. Sanjay Upadhyay and Amarjeet Mishra are also ready to throw their hats in the ring.

In Congress, the list of north Indian aspirants for Versova is big. Changez Multani, Mohasin Hyder, Farhan Azmi, Suraj Singh Thakur, and Akhilesh Yadav complete the north Indian line-up. Elsewhere, former deputy mayor Rajesh Sharma wants Bandra West.

Shivaji Singh is for Vile Parle. Surabhi Dwivedi and Ramgovind Yadav targeting Ghatkopar.Sanjay Shukla has his eyes on Sion-Koliwada. BK Tiwari (Mulund), Kishor Singh (Borivli), and Gita Yadav (Kandivli) are also in the race.

The Congress had saved its face in the city in 2019 because of north Indian leaders who had emerged as winners in Malad and Bandra East. Now it is likely to lose Bandra East to the Thackeray Sena where Varun Sardesai will be a candidate against NCP-Ajit Pawar's Zeeshan Siddique, who is no longer with the Congress. There could be a bargain in the offing for this if Thackeray Sena agrees to leave Byculla for the Congress's Muslim candidate.

17%
Percentage of north Indian voters in the city