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After Moradabad & Rampur, SP’s Musical Chair Of Candidates In Meerut
Mumbai North Central: a seat to watch!
The Mahayuti alliance consisting of BJP, Shiv Sena, and NCP(AP), has not yet announced a candidate for Mumbai North Central LS seat.
Speculations are rife that BJP might replace Poonam Mahajan, who won this seat in 2014 and 2019.
Mumbai North Central is among the 7 disputed seats within the alliance, but BJP is most likely to get it.
Delay in announcing the candidate signals possible anti-incumbency against Mahajan and shifting political dynamics post the Shiv Sena split.
Ashish Shelar, BJP Mumbai president and MLA, is a potential contender against Uddhav Sena, given his strong network across communities and religious groups and active role in local issues.
But some within the BJP want Shelar retained in Mumbai, especially with BMC polls expected soon.
Meanwhile Eknath Shinde attempted to recruit former Congress MP Priya Dutt who won the seat in 2009 but lost to Mahajan in 2014 & 2019.
Electoral Dynamics In Mumbai North Central
Mumbai North Central's diverse demographics with sizeable Christian and Muslim populations was earlier a challenge for BJP.
Things changed thanks to alliance with undivided Sena which got BJP Marathi votes along with its own Modi appeal. Now with split in Sena, BJP is unsure about Marathi votes.
The 6 assembly segments in the seat – Vile Parle, Chandivali, Kurla, Kalina, Bandra East, Bandra West – are currently divided between the BJP (2), Shiv Sena (2), Congress (1), and Uddhav Sena (1).
The seat has been considered high profile with leaders like Roza Deshpande, Ahilya Rangnekar, Narayan Athawale, Manohar Joshi, Ramdas Athawale, and Eknath Gaikwad winning from here.
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After Moradabad & Rampur, SP’s Musical Chair Of Candidates In Meerut
In Meerut, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has yet again changed its candidate on the last day of nomination filing.
Initially, SP had declared Bhanu Pratap Singh as its candidate from the Meerut LS seat.
On 1 April, Atul Pradhan, the sitting Sardhana MLA, replaced Bhanu Pratap Singh and filed his nomination on April 3.
Now, a day later on April 4, Sunita Verma, SP leader Yogesh Verma's wife & former Meerut mayor has filed her nomination papers.
In 2022 assembly polls, Yogesh Verma lost by a margin of around 7,000 votes from Hastinapur. He had lost in 2017 also but as a BSP candidate. The Verma couple switched to SP in 2021.
Atul Pradhan has accepted the party's decision, “if our national president has taken this decision, he might have thought of something”.
There were speculations that Pradhan was fielded due to his Gujjar background, while Singh's was replaced due to lack of local support & being an outsider. Now, the Verma couple belong to SC community.
Earlier, similar drama had unfolded in Moradabad & Rampur as apparently two SP candidates filed nominations from each seat.
BJP has held Meerut seat since 2009. However, it has replaced three-time MP Rajendra Agrawal with Arun Govil, known for his role as 'Ram' in highly popular TV show ‘Ramayana’.
Govil now faces a complex electoral landscape in Meerut which has large population of Muslims, Jats, Gujjars, and SCs. The voting in Meerut will take place on 26 April and the counting will be held on 4 June.
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