SHIRDI
There was buzz when a chartered aircraft landed at Shirdi airport on October 30. Perhaps a high-profile dignitary had come to seek Saibaba’s blessing? As it turned out, the aircraft was on a political mission―to take Rajendra Pipada to Mumbai. The BJP leader had turned rebel and insisted on contesting from Shirdi; the party, however, officially backed incumbent Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil from the seat.
The veteran has won Shirdi seven times. Having been with the Congress and Shiv Sena earlier, he joined the BJP in 2019. He still won that year, beating the Congress’s Suresh Thorat by close to 90,000 votes.
“I have been connected with the people of Shirdi for the last 35 to 40 years,” said the Maharashtra revenue minister. “My father (Balasaheb Vikhe Patil) was an MP who took care of the people here like his own children. I have carried this legacy forward.”
Not everyone, especially Pipada, buys this legacy talk. Despite Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule holding lengthy discussions with him, Pipada is adamant about contesting from Shirdi as an independent. He had lost a close fight to Vikhe Patil in Shirdi in 2009.
Should the local marwadi community vote for Pipada, Vikhe Patil will have a tough time.
Residents of Shirdi say their town needs more jobs and tourism-related facilities. “Other than the Saibaba temple, there is little else here,” said a local shop owner. “People come, take darshan and leave. We should create more attractions so that tourists stay for a longer time.”
Aware of this, Vikhe Patil lists the projects in the works, including a new theme park in Shirdi and the expansion of the Ahmednagar MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation), which he said would create more jobs.
Taking him on is the Congress’s Prabhavati Ghogare, who has said that she will free the people of Shirdi from Vikhe Patil’s “reign of terror”. Prabhavati’s father-in-law Chandrabhan Ghogare had won the seat in 1978. “There are a lot of issues here,” she said. “Farmers are not getting a good price for their produce, the employees of the Shirdi Saibaba Sansthan have not been made permanent, there has been no development in Shirdi, and whatever work has happened is because of the sansthan.”
Importantly, veteran Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat has thrown his weight behind Ghogare. In the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay had lost to Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) candidate Nilesh Lanke in a major upset. Thorat had campaigned aggressively for Lanke.
SANGAMNER
Just over 40km from Shirdi, Thorat has his own legacy to protect in Sangamner, a seat he has not lost since 1985.
Sangamner and Shirdi are part of north Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district, which has had historical ties with the cooperative movement. The Vikhe Patils and the Thorats have built their fortunes on this movement and have, over the decades, tried to one-up each other. The rivalry goes back to Vikhe Patil’s father Balasaheb and Thorat’s father Bhausaheb.
The Vikhe Patils were keen on Sujay contesting from Sangamner to avenge his loss in the Lok Sabha elections. However, the seat was allocated to alliance partner Shiv Sena (Shinde), which has fielded Amol Khatal, a strong supporter of Vikhe Patil.
At a recent rally where Vikhe Patil was present, Khatal said he was fighting this election to rid Sangamner of corruption and from the grip of contractors. “The common people are strongly behind me to wipe out the 40 years of bullying you (Thorat) did here,” he said.
Khatal has his work cut out. Thorat has a lot of clout in the region, be it in the local government or the several cooperatives, and that will work in his favour, said a local shop owner.
A few Sangamner residents THE WEEK spoke to pointed to the work Thorat has done in the region. “We get enough fresh water directly from the Nilwande dam every day,” said Prasad Bhadange, a lawyer. “That apart, all the major government offices, educational institutions, highways, we have everything here. Our region is prosperous. He (Thorat) has done a lot of good work here.”
Thorat has been a minister several times and should the MVA win a majority, he is likely to be in the lead to become the next chief minister.
MAHIM
In Mahim, Raj Thackeray’s son Amit, of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, will take on incumbent Sada Sarvankar of the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and Mahesh Sawant of the Sena (UBT). Mahim has, over the years, been a stronghold of the undivided Sena, but the voters are now divided. “I feel we need to give Raj Thackeray a chance. Let us see if he is any different,” said Mansi Pathare, a 43-year-old home-maker. “We go to him for anything but I have never heard of people approaching Uddhav with an issue. I have always been voting for the MNS. We have not availed of the [Shinde government’s] Ladki Bahin Yojana; though it is a good initiative, who can be sure for how long it will last once the new government comes to power? We are not fools. Also, why do they want to distribute free money? Why don’t they give us women work opportunities, instead?”
Her friend Mrunmayi Bhole, 50, said the people of Mahim could not imagine Uddhav sitting down with people whom his father would not even let near him.
Some senior citizens, many of them Shiv Sena loyalists for decades, felt differently. Premchandra Tari, an 80-year-old who manages the gym at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, said, “This government is busy infighting, while the price of tur dal has touched Rs200 a kilo. It is ridiculous. I think we need to give another chance to the MVA. After all, Uddhav proved himself during the pandemic. Raj Thackeray’s son, on the other hand, is new and nobody can be sure if he will deliver. Nobody can win our vote with these temporary schemes; it is only Shinde’s way of redeeming the wrongs he has done to the original Sena. He is giving away taxpayers’ money through these yojanas to serve his own selfish interest.”
WORLI
Milind Deora, son of former MP Murli Deora, is up against the incumbent Aaditya Thackeray in Worli. Deora, a former Lok Sabha member, left the Congress in January to join Shinde’s Sena. MNS candidate Sandeep Deshpande is also in the fray.
Worli is seen as a stronghold of the Sena (UBT), with Aaditya Thackeray winning comfortably in 2019. That, however, does not mean all voters are happy with him. “All we are asking for as the topmost priority is the availability of good sanitation facilities for women,” said Sarita Singh, a resident of Worli, who works as a domestic help. “We need public toilets at shorter distances and those that I can use without covering my nose with my dupatta. This is basic but not even a Thackeray could provide it in all these years. What hope is left?”
Rajendra Tukaram Mahadik, a retired policeman, said, “The only thing I am against is that Aaditya Thackeray hasn’t really proved his mettle yet. What does he do? How come he has crores in his kitty and why should people who are much senior to him refer to him as saheb? Just the family name does not amount to anything. Having said that, it is also true that the police colony here is happy as we do not face acute water or electricity shortage and we are doing fairly okay. Three generations of my family have been voting for the Sena, but now we are asking for more than simply survival; we want quality of life.”
Avinash Kshirsagar, who runs a shop in Worli, said change is always good. “We are happy to see all this huge infrastructure right in front of us. In this sense, of course something has been done. The coastal road is extremely helpful in reducing travel time, but the question to ask is, who is all this for? The rich. What’s in it for me? I have never felt the need to approach anyone for help, but I’m sure if that need ever arises, a Thackeray would be more approachable than a Deora.”