Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Cakewalk for Latke but turnout poor
Shiv Sena (UBT)’s hopes of record votes for its candidate dashed
MUMBAI: In an election that was otherwise a cakewalk for the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) due to the withdrawal of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the absence of a strong candidate from any mainstream political party, the Sena had to battle voter apathy in the much-discussed Andheri East by-polls. In the polling held on Thursday, a mere 31.74% per cent of voters turned up to exercise their franchise at the 256 polling booths. The results are due on Sunday.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) victory was a foregone conclusion because of the withdrawal of the BJP from the fray. But the party’s hopes of getting a record margin for its candidate Rutuja Ramesh Latke might be dashed due to the low turnout. After the withdrawal of the BJP nominee Murji Patel, the Shiv Sena (UBT) was aiming for a massive margin of over one lakh votes to show its popular support. There are six candidates, independents as well as those belonging to registered parties, who are in the fray apart from Latke. The constituency has around 2.77 lakh voters, of which around 1.03 lakh are Maharashtrians. The constituency had seen 53.82 per cent polling in 2019. A senior
THE SEGMENT HAD SEEN 53.82% POLLING IN 2019
Shiv Sena leader admitted that the absence of a strong challenger had worked against the party’s plans to mobilise the cadre and also the core voters of the party. Senior Sena leader and former minister Anil Parab had also alleged on Tuesday that the BJP was doling out cash to voters to press the NOTA button. Parab said that they had complained to the Election
Commission and the police about this. Before the BJP’s withdrawal, the Shiv Sena was preparing to take on the BJP and the faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde in the first election after the split in the Sena that saw Shinde topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi regime in June. The Shiv Sena (UBT) was hoping that a sympathy vote for the party and its candidate Rutuja Latke, whose husband and Sena MLA Ramesh Latke’s demise in May necessitated the by-election.