Wait begins

Candidates are working hard to ensure voters get out of homes and vote for them on Wednesday

voters is not as high as it was during the Lok Sabha polls.

For the first time since 1990, all parties are fighting solo. The split in the Shiv Sena-bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress-nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliances have made the polls a multi-cornered fight, with each party, including the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), pitching their ‘vision’ of development.

Voters saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his campaign avatar, as he tried to work his magic just four months after his victory.

With 36 seats up for grabs, better performance in Mumbai will propel parties to gain a substantial lead over their rivals. The contest in the city is evenly poised with each party wooing the largest voter base, Maharashtrians. After parting ways with the Sena, the BJP has tried to shore up the non-marathi voters such as Gujaratis and north Indians on their side, which may hamper the chances of Congress and NCP.

In Mumbai, sitting MLAS and their chief opponents adopted different strategies to reach smaller pockets in their constituencies.

In a show of strength, supporters of Nawab Malik (NCP), Abu Azmi (SP), Nitin Sardesai (MNS), and Kalidas Kolambkar (Sena) carried out separate bike rallies.

In Andheri (East), former health minister Suresh Shetty was reaching out to voters in MIDC and adjacent areas. “I am banking on my rapport with people to get re-elected,” Shetty told HT.

In Bandra (West), city BJP chief Amit Shelar was seen visiting slum pockets, where his rival Baba Siddiqui holds sway. “People living in slums suffer the most and they want change. I have seen tremendous support in these areas,” said Shelar.

Shelar’s colleague from Vile Parle, Parag Alavani, has been sending personal letters to firsttime voters and to those he could not meet. Similarly, Mumbadevi’s Congress legislator Amin Patel said he wanted to spend some time in voters’ homes. “I wanted to end the campaign with candid chats with people,” he said.

In Malabar Hill and Colaba, campaigning was low key with candidates preferring to hold small meetings. “The margin of victory will be small, so on the last day [of campaigning] we are just concentrating on a few select areas,” said a Congress worker.

Sitting MLAS Vinod Ghosalkar (Sena) and Yogesh Sagar (BJP) from Dahisar and Charkop respectively said they were sure of a good win.

The five-cornered contest also means that people can vote for a clear majority. “It is high time coalition politics comes to an end,” said Ramesh Aggarwal, 61, a Mulund resident.