Mumbai, September 25: The Congress’ decision to field more North Indian candidates in the city is part of a well thought out strategy to encash and consolidate the non-Marathi votes in its favour.
Sensing that 26% of Marathi votes would be split between the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), the Congress has stuck to its pan-Indian image, giving greater preference to the non-Marathi candidates in Mumbai, which has 36 assembly seats.
In the first list of 28 candidates, only eight Maharashtrians got tickets. The majority are North Indians (from Uttar Pradesh), followed by Gujaratis and minorities (Muslims, Punjabis and Christians). Mumbai Congress chief Kripashankar Singh, who is the North Indian face of the party, played a vital role in short-listing the candidates. His appointment to the Mumbai Congress was a clear indicator that party was going to make the most of the ‘outsiders’ in the elections.
State Congress president Manikrao Thakre said, “We have taken into consideration various factors, including the composition of each assembly segment and the popularity of the candidates, before giving tickets. We did not want to ignore any community.”
The Congress argues that a Marathi candidate does not work beyond a point, as the Sena has an emotive bond with the Marathi manoos in Mumbai. The MNS, through Raj Thackeray, has also succeeded in making deep inroads in the city.
The same logic works for the BJP as well, which always goes for non-Marathis to consolidate its own voter base in the city. It reckons that the ‘sons of the soil’ loyal to the Sena will automatically transfer their vote to their candidates in the alliance.
A senior Congress leader said, “The Shiv Sena, since its inception in 1966, has been using the emotive ‘sons of the soil’ card to its advantage. As a result, the Congress had to bank on the non-Marathi voters.”
Statistics from 1962 to 2004 show that 50% of elected representatives in Mumbai are non-Marathis.Though in the 1960s,70s and 80s, the Gujarati community played a greater role, the North Indians are now emerging as the dominant political force in Mumbai politics.
–Agencies–