The Mumbai North-West Lok Sabha constituency has all facets which can make it a 'mini India', with the area being a melting pot of all communities. The constituency has sprawling beaches like Juhu and Versova which are dotted with swanky sea-facing bungalows and apartments of Bollywood personalities.
The constituency had been a Congress bastion for a long time. However Gurudas Kamat- led Congress conceded defeat in 2014 elections after Modi factor delivered a win to Shiv Sena's candidate Gajanan Kirtikar by a margin of 1.83 lakh votes.
Prior to 2014 polls, it was in 1977 and 1980 when Ram Jethmalani won the seat and in 1996 and 1998 when late Sunil Dutt refused to contest that Sena MP Madhukar Sarpotdar was elected from this constituency. However, Shiv Sena BJP fallout in 2014 has allowed BJP to make inroads in this constituency.
Being a member of the Standing Committee on Railways, Kirtikar has worked for the development of Andheri, Jogeshwari and Goregaon railway stations. He had also started the Sthaniya Lokadikar Samiti to help local people get jobs.
Despite having high-profile voters and personalities, Mumbai North-West has its own slew of local and inherent issues. Transportation, illegal parking, hawkers, land grabbing are some of the issues which need urgent attention in this constituency. While the constituency constitutes of upmarket neighbourhoods of the city like Lokhandawala and Yaari Road, it also has slum pockets at Dindoshi and Goregaon slums waiting to be redeveloped. Going by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data, the N-East and K-East wards, which fall under this constituency, has the highest density of slum clusters in the city.
Kirtikar told DNA, "I think Modi wave has collapsed. If Sena-BJP alliance materialises, and I contest for the seat, my victory is a foregone conclusion. Sans the alliance, I would still win because of the hard work we and our party workers had put in. Moreover, the resentment of the people against the BJP would help increase our votes."
However, BJP District president Amit Satam who is an MLA from Andheri-West Assembly Constituency has a different take on the matter. "This constituency has emerged as a strong vote base for BJP. The reason is simple — we never got an opportunity to contest here because of the long-standing alliance with Sena. After the fallout in 2104, the number of BJP corporators has gone up to 21 from 3," said Satam.
Echoing Satnam's words, Sunil Karjatkar, organising secretary of BJP said that Shiv Sena cannot win in this constituency without an alliance with BJP. He said, "We have three MLAs including Vidya Thakur who is the Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Protection, Food and Drugs Administration. There has been a shift of voters away from the Congress to BJP. This may seal our victory in the constituency."
MUMBAI NORTH WEST THROUGH THE LENS
Prime issues in the area involve Traffic congestion, illegal parking, land grabbing and Rehabilitation problems
CONSTITUENCY PROFILE AND DEMOGRAPHICS
The constituency constitutes of six assembly segments which includes (Shiv Sena), Dindoshi (Shiv Sena), Goregaon (BJP), Versova (BJP), Andheri West (BJP) and Andheri East (Shiv Sena). The area has a strong presence of Maharashtrians (5.5 lakh), Muslims (3 lakh) and North Indians (3.5 lakh). Catholics and South Indians have their own pockets. Like most areas of Mumbai, the constituency is witnessing a change in its demographic profile.
Gajanan Kirtikar, Shiv Sena MP
POLITICAL EQUATIONS
In 2014
Gajanan Kirtikar was elected to the Lok Sabha, defeating Congress candidate late Gurudas Kamat, by a margin of approximately 1,83,000 votes. Several factors were at play behind Kirtikar’s victory — resentment of people against the Congress, the Modi wave are amongst a few. Ironically, Kamat had secured about 2.53 lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections defeating Kirtikar who had garnered 2.15 lakh votes.
Kirtikar started the Sthaniya Lokadikar Samiti to help local people get jobs.
In 2019
In case of BJP-Sena alliance, it would be cake walk for the candidate who would be Gajanan Kirtikar in all likelihood. Sans an alliance with the BJP, the Shiv Sena may have a tough fight on its hands with equal presence of the three parties — BJP, Sena and Congress in the fray.
PERFORMANCE OF MPS
- 73 Debates participated in
- 32 Special mentions
- 981 Questions
- 3 Supplementary questions
- 7 Government bills
- 4 Private bills
- 3 Committee memberships
UTILISATION OF MPLADS FUNDS
- Rs 25 cr Entitlement to constituency
- Rs 15 cr Fund released by GOI
- Rs 17.11 cr Expenditure
- Utilisation percentage over amount released 114.06%
- Unspent balance 2.89%
THUS SPOKE JANATA
After the elections, I have neither seen our MP Gajanan Kirtikar nor did I see any development in our area. A major part of the population stays in slums. They neither have work to sustain a living nor the basic needs such as food and water. Our MP’s tenure was not at all satisfactory.
— Prakash Yadav, Jogeshwari east
I am satisfied with our MP’s performance. He has worked for development in my area. However, I feel a lot needs to be done in sectors like infrastructure, roads, etc. Also, I feel he should attend more public gatherings and reach out to common man to know their grievances.
— Ankita Tripathi, Andheri east
Our constituency is reeling under several problems. Illegal shops at Anand Nagar is one of the prime issues. Last year, a person died because of illegal parking, ambulance could not pass through the choked road. I tried to raise this problem in front of our MP, but he is always unreachable.
— Ravikant I Maurya, Versova
Due to political differences between the corporator, MLA and MP of our area common man is suffering. They are so busy with their internal problems that they have completely forgotten about development work. Most projects in our are have been left incomplete.
— Vinod Kishan Shinde, Jogeshwari east
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PERFORMANCE OF MPS
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