Mumbai, May 14 (IANS): Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee and sitting MP Arvind Sawant and Shiv Sena candidate Yamini Jadhav are locked in a direct contest in Mumbai South.

The Mumbai South constituency is an important segment of the country’s financial capital with a mixed population of the elite, middle class, government employees, slum dwellers, multilingual and religious people.

Interestingly, both Sawant and Jadhav hope to win the elections by playing the Marathi Manoos card which has traditionally been the Shiv Sena’s USP.

However, they are paying equal attention to the Muslim community whose votes are likely to play a decisive role in this election.

Even though the BJP had staked its claim on South Mumbai by shortlisting its nominees including the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar and Cabinet Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, it opted out after Eknath Shinde made it a prestige issue.

The time taken by the BJP and Shiv Sena in arriving at a consensus helped Sawant to complete the first round and start another round of campaigning.

However, Jadhav, who is a Legislator from Byculla, is now striving to complete her outreach programme in a limited span of time as polling is slated for May 20.

Sawant, who was elected in 2014 and 2019 banking on the Shiv Sena’s (united) alliance with the BJP and riding on a ‘Modi wave’, hopes to score a hat-trick despite a vertical split in the party after Eknath Shinde’s rebellion in June 2022.

Sawant, who remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray, is running his campaign arguing that the only visible difference in this election is change in the allies including the Congress, NCP, Communists and other like-minded parties.

In addition, Sawant is cashing in on his followers from the MTNL Union and Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti which is Shiv Sena’s cultural organisation working to safeguard Maharashtrian interests.

On top of it, Sawant is riding on sympathy to his boss and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray especially from Muslims and other minority communities, and Dalits apart from the Marathi Manoos which he claims is hurt after the manner in which 40 Legislators led by Eknath Shinde walked out of the party and joined hands with the BJP.

On her part, Jadhav is cashing in on the BJP’s poll machinery, the well-oiled network of the RSS Parivar, support from various organisations representing traders, apart from the Shiv Sena’s Shakha-level organisational strength.

Her poll campaign is revolving around ‘Modi’s guarantee’ and making him the prime minister for the third time and also on the importance of a double engine government to push Mumbai’s development.

Undeterred by the limited time at her disposal, Jadhav has stepped up her efforts to mingle with cross-sections of society, explaining that her party is the real Shiv Sena which is taking forward the thoughts and ideals of the party founder late Balasaheb Thackeray.

She is making it a point to mention how Shinde, a true Shiv Sainik and the people’s chief minister, is well positioned to protect the interests of the Marathi Manoos and boost the development of India’s financial and commercial capital.

Incidentally, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sawant have accused Jadhav and her husband Yashwant Jadhav of tax evasion and money laundering, during the poll campaign.

However, Jadhav has put up a brave front saying that nothing has been proved so far and they are taking legal recourse.

Sawant and Jadhav are faced with a volley of questions over their plans to address a number of issues from the constituency.

There are a large number of dilapidated old chawls and most of them are over 100 years old.

These chawls are awaiting redevelopment. However, most of the residents are not ready to vacate their homes citing fraud by developers, lack of support from the government and lack of concrete assurance about the time required for the completion of redevelopment.

This has made redevelopment a time-consuming exercise.

These residents expect Sawant and Jadhav to not only present a workable redevelopment plan but also assure its timely completion not at the cost of builders’ interests but by protecting their interests.

Moreover, the infrastructure constraints, traffic bottlenecks, lack of water availability 24x7 and encroachment on open spaces are some of the other issues prevalent in the constituency.