Mumbai: Rahul Shewale may pay price for congestion, pollution

Mumbai's South Central constituency is located on the cusp of the island city and the suburbs. The seat, represented by Shiv Sena's Rahul Shewale, covers areas like Dharavi and Chembur, which have residents complaining of high pollution levels due to the presence of industrial units. The iconic Shivaji Park and the Dadar-Mahim Chowpatty also falls here.

While Shewale's supporters claim he has raised relevant issues in Parliament, his detractors argue that he has been inaccessible and has done little to address grassroots problems, like the increasing pressure on Railways and the impact of the beef ban on Dharavi's leather industry. The area's residents include Maharashtrians, Dalits, Gujaratis, Marwaris and Jains, while Sikhs, Punjabis, Christians, Hindi-speakers and South Indians also have their own pockets. Like most areas of Mumbai, the constituency is witnessing a demographic change.

In 2014, Shewale, then the chairman of the Standing Committee of the BMC, defeated two-term MP Eknath Gaikwad. Gaikwad had earned the "giant killer" moniker after trouncing then Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi in 2004, but in 2014, Shewale defeated Gaikwad by 1.38 lakh votes.