While the Congress is likely to field former minister and Sena dissident Narayan Rane to take on the Shiv Sena in the Bandra East by-polls, the hardline All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which emerged at number three in the constituency in the 2014 assembly elections, is planning to test the waters again.
While the Congress is likely to field former minister and Sena dissident Narayan Rane to take on the Shiv Sena in the Bandra East by-polls, the hardline All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which emerged at number three in the constituency in the 2014 assembly elections, is planning to test the waters again.
The party has two MLAs in Maharashtra and hopes to capitalise on the anger among Muslims over the BJP-Shiv Sena government's decision to scrap reservations for the community and enforcing a ban on bull slaughter. It hopes that the general downslide of the Congress may help it gain the minority vote.
The BJP, on the other hand, has declared its support for the Sena nominee in the polls scheduled to be held on April 11.
In last year's assembly elections, Sena's Prakash (Bala) Sawant had defeated BJP's Krishna Parkar from the Sena stronghold. The AIMIM's candidate Raja Rahebar Khan, a former corporator, had emerged number three, with almost 20,000 votes in the constituency, which has substantial pockets of Muslims and Dalits.
The by-polls have been necessitated by Sawant's death; the Sena has fielded his wife Trupti in a fight where its prestige will be at stake — Matoshree, which houses Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and his family, is located in the constituency.
"We are planning to contest these elections and a final decision will be taken in a day or two. We are in talks with our local unit and the previous candidate," said AIMIM MLA from Byculla Waris Pathan.
Sources, however, said the AIMIM, which is eying the 2017 BMC polls and is also attempting to forge rainbow coalitions with Dalit groups, was likely to stay out of the contest.
The AIMIM, which has its roots in the 'Razakars' who supported the Nizam of Hyderabad and resisted the state's integration into India, is led by Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi and his younger brother and Telangana MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is known for his communally charged speeches.
But its success has led to consternation among liberal Muslims who fear that emotional, rabble-rousing politics may deepen the communal divide and affect the mainstreaming of community members.
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