Shinde-Fadnavis to clash Shiv Sena in by-elections soon

Mumbai: As Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis gear up for the forthcoming civic elections in Mumbai, Thane and 21 other municipalities, their first electoral battle will likely be the by-election for the Andheri East state legislative assembly constituency. The bypoll was mandated within six months of the demise of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke in May 2022, while holidaying with his family in Dubai. Latke, who enjoyed a clean and popular reputation, had been a councillor several times and was a two-time MLA from Andheri (E). His widow Rutuja Latke is expected to contest the bypolls.

Joint Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Maharashtra DS Parkar said, “We have not received any order from the Election Commission of India (ECI) yet. Elections may be held any time now.” He added that normally the ECI holds bypolls along with general or state assemblies in India. Elections to the Gujarat, Telangana, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh assemblies are due. “It is normal ECI practice to hold by-elections of MPs and MLAs along with state assemblies or general elections. With Gujarat elections likely in November or December, the Maharashtra byepoll to Andheri (E) could be held alongside,” the Joint CEO added.

The Andheri (E) assembly elections will be the first political litmus test to gauge voter sentiment over the newly installed ShindeFadnavis government. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had walked out with 40 rebel MLAs from Shiv Sena, against Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray forming the MVA alliance with political adversaries, the NCP and Congress in Maharashtra. The BJP exploited a similar political betrayal (when natural ally Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form the MVA government) in 2021 to wrest the Pandharpur assembly seat. Pandharpur had been a Congress stronghold from 1948 till 1999, when six-month-old NCP, led by Sharad Pawar, wrested the MP seat by fielding current Union Minister of the Republican Party of India (Athawale faction) Ramdas Athawale from there. In 1999, Pawar lured all the six MLAs from the constituency into the NCP fold and seven-time Congress MP Sandipan Thorat had to bite the dust. Similarly, then LOP (leader of the opposition) in Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, had wrangled the Pandharpur MLA seat in a bye-election after the demise of the sitting NCP MLA in 2021. Then too, it was the first political battle between the BJP and the MVA government in Maharashtra that BJP won, despite then Deputy CM Ajit Pawar of the NCP camping in the constituency for four days. Will history repeat itself ?