Delimitation changes equations in Bhiwandi

The 23-Bhiwandi parliamentary constituency has just one assembly constituency in Wada that has dominance of BJP. Dahanu,Jawahar and Igatpuri,which were part of the erstwhile parliamentary constituency,are no longer in the new formation. Of the three,the loss of Jawahar assembly constituency would be dearest to BJP as it had helped the party take a lead during the 2004 Lok Sabha polls. Though Dahanu and Igatpuri had not given NJP take a lead,their loss would still cost the party dear as the constituencies had helped the emerge the first runner-up in the total number of votes polled in previous elections. What compounds BJP’s worries is the inclusion of Murbad assembly constituency in Bhiwandi Parliamentary constituency. Murbad constituency has traditionally been dominated by the Congress and in recent times,by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). It was only in 1995 that the BJP had wrested the seat from Gotiram Pawar,then in the Congress. Now Pawar in his fourth term as MLA is still lording over Murbad.

Moreover,three assembly constituencies have been carved out of Bhiwandi assembly constituency — Bhiwandi east,Bhiwandi west and Bhiwandi Rural. From 1951— the year India went to polls for the first time — till 2004,no candidate from either of the saffron parties has ever won in Bhiwandi. In 2004 assembly elections,it was the first time in the history of this textile township that Shiv Sena managed to win the elections.

Sena’s Yogesh Patil had defeated Samajwadi Party’s Abu Asim Azmi by a margin of 40,000 votes. Azmi was defeated despite the fact that there are 3.10 lakh Muslim voters in Bhiwandi,but he barely got 78,000 odd votes. It has been an unwritten tradition in Bhiwandi that it politely shows the door to any outsiders who try to contest against the locals. This was the precise reason why Muslims had voted in favour of the Shiv Sena during the 2004 Assembly elections. Besides the presence of BJP in Bhiwandi urban limits is restricted to a mere three corporators. Moreover,in addition to the Muslims,there are 4.50 lakh voters from Agari community,4.50 lakh from the Kunbi community and 1.50 voters from communities such Rajashthanis,Gujaratis,North Indians and Padmashalis. The Agari and Kunbi communities had already extended their support to the Shiv Sena and without Sena in the fray,how far would they extend their support to Sena’s alliance partner is to be seen.