Polls apart: 2 biggies who work differently

While as many as 75 sitting corporators are contesting the BMC polls on February 21, senior corporators Shraddha Jadhav, a former Mayor and Shiv Sena corporator, and Ram Barot, a former Deputy Mayor and BJP corporator, both hope to emerge victorious for the sixth consecutive term in the civic polls.

Jadhav and Barot are similarly matched in terms of experience in their political career, but are poles apart in terms of their nature. Jadhav is one of the most talked-about and firebrand female corporators from the Shiv Sena, and is also one of the richest corporators in the BMC. Barot, a homeopathy practitioner by profession, maintains a low profile and is regarded as a cool-headed but ambitious politician.

Jadhav, who is contesting from ward number 202 in Parel, started her political career in 1992, under the mentorship of her father-in-law Mukund Jadhav, who was also elected as an independent corporator from Parel in the past. In 1997, she joined the Shiv Sena, and from there on, she has always emerged triumphant despite her ward being changed due to delimitation time and again. Jadhav won the 2002, 2007 and 2012 elections consecutively. This is her sixth election in a row.

“The voter base in my ward has remained largely unchanged, and given my performance over the years, I am quite confident that I will win this time too,” said Jadhav. She added that a Shiv Sena rebel’s attempt to launch a negative campaign against her in the ward would not yield any results. “People support the Shiv Sena here”, she asserted.

Barot, who is contesting from ward number 45 (Daftari Road to Upper Govind Nagar in Malad East), meanwhile enjoys the support of a sizeable number of Gujarati voters. He says that though this may be his sixth consecutive election, a lot of work still remains.

While entering a building during a campaign rally on Saturday morning, Barot said, “I will not hesitate to climb the stairs and knock on doors if there is no lift.” Though from an older school of thought, Barot is keeping pace with all the latest social media platforms to connect with voters, but insists that nothing works like ‘personal meetings and face-to-face contact’. “Technically, this is my seventh election. I lost my first election in 1985, but after that, there was no looking back,” he said.