It was a show of power and voter-strength in the Marathi heartland of Dadar as sitting MLA of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Nitin Sardesai and Shiv Sena candidate Sada Sarvankar filed their nominations for the upcoming Assembly elections on Friday morning. Sardesai filed his nomination minutes before the arrival of rival candidate Sarvankar’s rally.” “The Sena looked much more confident as compared to the MNS candidate, the former’s rally was also more vibrant than the latter. The recent events in the parties has given a reason to the Sainiks to fight hard”r,” said Girish Patil, a resident of the area. Sarvankar’s supporters were seen sporting orange sashes with the party’s symbol (bow and arrow) on it. Sarvankar was also supported by Rahul Shewale, recently elected MP from the Sena, who attended the rally”. “The people of this area have always supported Sena and I am very confident that they will vote for me and help me achieve Balasaheb’s dream,” said Sarvankar. In the 2009 Maharashtra Assembly elections, MNS’s Sardesai had not only defeated Sarvankar, who had at the time defected to the Congress, but also TV actor Adesh Bandekar, who had represented the Sena then. Voting patterns over the past five years have indicated that Shiv Sena has been losing its influence in its mainstay area. It is widely believed that Sena had lost in the previous Lok Sabha election as many of the anti-Congress votes, which would have otherwise all gone to Sena, went in favour of MNS. The Shiv Sena had also lost seven municipal councillor wards to the MNS in 2012. The MNS has put up Sardesai’s posters with party chief Raj Thackeray’s picture and a tagline that reads “Aapla Manoos” in many places in the area. “Sardesai has been able to achieve a connect with the people in Dadar and Mahim in the last five years. Balasaheb’s demise, Sarvankar quitting the party has diluted Sena’s presence,” said Rajendra Chauhan, another resident.
