Congress faces odds in its sole bastion in Thane

However, this time, the Sena is out to give the Congress a tough time. And no one less than Sharad Pawar acknowledged this fact. At a rally here, the now-usually-thundering Maratha strongman admitted, “I do not claim that we will surely win this seat, but in any case, this willbe a starter for the process of routing out the Sena-BJP.” This was a clear-cut message from Pawar that even though the Congress was comfortable with its position in other constituencies, the party was still doubtful about its victory in Dahanu.

The contest in the constituency is mainly between the Sena-BJP candidate and the Congress, though there are two other candidates in the fray. But the presence of a Samajwadi Party candidate is likely to affect the fortunes of the two major contenders at the hustings.

While the Congress has fielded Dahanu panchayat samiti chief Krishna Goda, the Sena has fielded one Ishwar Dhodi. The two other candidates are Bharatiya Mangat of the CPM and Kaluram Bhodhade of the Samajwadi Party.

The major poll issue in this constituency is the Wadhawan international port, which the alliance Government plans to construct despite opposition from the fisherfolk. While Shiv Sena district chief Anand Dighe says that his party will guard the interest of the locals, there are still afew disbelieving voices.

For the Shiv Sena, the polls are going to be an acid test for another reason too: the bitter defeat that the party suffered in the two recent elections one to the MLC, where Congress nominee Vasant Davkhare defeated Sena’s Sashikant Thosar and the other in the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Mayoral election. It is significant that both the defeats came after the dismissal of Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik from the Cabinet. But in its ten-point agenda, the Sena has spared no effort to woo the voters, starting with promise of better roads and “freedom from water tanks”.