BJP’s clean sweep in western suburbs a setback for Sena

In major western suburban areas that are dominated by the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has swept away and reigned in the civic polls. The BJP appeared dominant in major pockets of areas like Dahisar east, Kandivali east, Malad east, Goregaon east, Andheri west and Vile Parle west.

The Sena which contested for 227 seats had a major hold in the prominent areas of the western suburbs since the last five years. But this year, the BJP emerged victorious in these areas namely Gaondevi, Kurar Village, Somwar Bazaar, Evershine Nagar, Oshiwara, Lokhandwala, Four bungalows and Juhu.

In Lokhandwala area of Andheri west, standing committee leader and senior Sena leader Yashodhar Phanse lost to BJP candidate Yogiraj Dabhalkar. Dabhalkar contested for the first time from this ward. While in a blow to BJP, Vinod Shelar, the brother of Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar, lost to an independent candidate Shinde Dhondiba at Santosh Nagar area of Goregaon east.

The other BJP candidates like Dipak Thakur, Samir Desai, Anisha Makwane and Jagdish Ojha have also contested for the first time. These candidates also withdrew the long standing hold of the Sena in their areas.

Considering the prominent area of the western suburbs, Bandra was the area where the Sena dominated as they won eight seats in H east ward which comprises of areas like Bandra, Khar and Santacruz east. The scenario in the western side of the same areas witnessed a mix of dominance of the Congress and BJP. Senior Congress Corporator Asif Zakaria maintained his hold over Bandra west.