With 48 MP seats Maharashtra is a heavy-weight in the Parliament and on April 29, its 6 most coveted constituencies, all located in Mumbai, will be up for grabs. Think of Mumbai’s 6 parliamentary constituencies as the 6 Infinity Stones and the 2019 general elections as the Endgame. Who will wear the infinity gauntlet and what is at stake when the fingers snap?
Mumbai South: Power Stone
Home to old business families, power-brokers and even some of the gauche nouveau riche, Mumbai South with all its money muscle is the Power Stone. The constituency switched hands between the Congress’s Murli Deora and BJP’s Jayawantiben Mehta from the mid 80’s to the end of the 90’s when Young Turk Milind Deora took over from his father. But Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant scored a surprise victory in 2014. Deora is now flexing muscle in carefully curated video endorsements from some of the wealthiest and most influential businessmen in his constituency. Will that help him take back South Mumbai?
Also, no matter who comes to power, they shouldn’t be blind to the needs of their economically backward constituents who live in shanty towns, slums and on pavements. Its fisher-folk, small traders who operate out of hole-in-the-wall shops at Crawford Market, cycling coffee and idli vendors, women who draw henna tattoos on the palms of foreign tourists, the domestic helps and the security guards of the rich and famous… even these constituents must be included in any plan for progress for it to be complete and inclusive. For what good is power if it can’t help the poor?
While on the one hand this constituency includes the upscale and prohibitively expensive neighbourhoods of Marine drive with their art deco buildings, and Malabar Hill with the fancy bungalows, it also includes ghettos in Byculla, the unmotorable bylanes of Mumbadevi and squalid wastelands of Shivadi whose only saving grace are the pink flamingos that come here once a year.
Mumbai South Central: Soul Stone
Once home to the city’s economic middle and lower middle class, this is the constituency that demands the greatest sacrifice… that of health and sanity, for the purpose of survival. Often one wonders if this form of survival is even worth it given the sacrifices. This is the Soul Stone.
The constituency covers Chembur, Dharavi, Wadala and Sion Koliwada among other areas. Here, people live in dingy and suffocatingly small tenements amidst squalor, debris and dust. They breathe in toxic air from garbage dumps and factories nearby. They watch their children die. They stand in serpentine queues, often argue and fight, early in the morning at the municipal water tap just to fill enough water to get through the day. Sanitation and sewage facilities are practically non-existent. And yet the residents soldier on… hustle hard with hope in hearts that often struggle to beat.
The incumbent is Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale who goes up against the Congress’s Eknath Gaikwad. The VBA has fielded Sanjay Bhosle while the BSP candidate is Ahmed Shakil Sagir Ahmed Shaikh.
Mumbai North: Mind Stone
This constituency is the most mindboggling. Not only because this is a very diverse constituency and is home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Jains or because it has rivers, forests and mangroves, but also from the point of view of its past electoral choices, and therefore is the Mind Stone.
Deciding who to vote for requires a huge amount of wisdom in this constituency that has seen an unexpected candidate like movie star Govinda actually win in 2004! The victory was shocking not only because a complete political novice with nothing to his credit than some of the most cringe-worthy movies of the
80s and 90s had won in what was BJP veteran Ram Naik’s bastion, but also because after his win, this constituency became a rather unpredictable electoral battleground. INC’s Sanjay Nirupam won in 2009 while the BJP’s Gopal Shetty won it back in 2014.
Even this year it will be exciting. Though the INC has pitched a complete novice in actor Urmila Matondkar against a seasoned Gopal Shetty, chatter among constituents is that Matondkar is actually quite politically savvy and might just swing a surprise victory.
Mumbai North West: Reality Stone
The heart of Mumbai’s film industry, this is where the magic happens. Mumbai North West is therefore the Reality Stone because its residents help create an alternate reality… a world we can all escape into and forget about our own miserable existence.
But its own reality remains grim. This is the constituency that has changed the most over time, with quaint fishing villages and mangroves giving way to swanky shopping malls, movie multiplexes and film studios, business centers and apartment complexes. But with great urbanisation comes great responsibility and on that front sadly people here have been left wanting, despite having high profile candidates in the past like Ram Jethmalani, Sunil Dutt, Madhukar Sarpotdar, Priya Dutt and Gurudas Kamat. It is noteworthy that the constituency boundaries were redrawn in 2008.
The incumbent Gajanan Kiritikar of the Shiv Sena is up against INC veteran Sanjay Nirupam who switched constituencies after delimitation in 2008. The VBA candidate is Suresh Shetty.
Mumbai North Central: Time Stone
This constituency, though new in terms of delimitation in 2008, has neighbourhoods that have changed the least over time. The contrast between the haves and have-nots is the starkest here, and such has been the way of life here for decades. It is as if time stands still. This is therefore Mumbai’s Time Stone.
Take for instance Bandra West and East. Or Vile Parle and Kalina. While some neighbourhoods are exclusive enclaves of the exceptionally wealthy, across the tracks are hastily put up shanties of those who have to hustle daily for a living. Also, everything is terribly unplanned. If people in Kurla wade through chest deep water every monsoon, Pali Hill’s narrow winding roads and claustrophobic layout are a fire hazard!
INC’s Priya Dutt switched to this constituency after delimitation and won in 2009, but BJP’s Poonam Mahajan wrested it from her in 2014. Both ladies who are facing off against one another yet again this time are highly respected politicians and both are scions of old political families. May the best woman win!
Mumbai North East: Space Stone
Mumbai North East as the only constituency with some amount of space still left in the form of forest cover and salt pans is the Space Stone. Though even these could be lost to greedy real estate developers and their cronies in the administration.
This constituency covers Mulund, Bhandup West, Vikhroli, Mankhurd and Ghatkopar. It has a diverse population comprising Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits and Bahujans. Economically, while there are some pockets of wealth, there are also several neighbourhoods that are extremely socio-economically backward and have limited health and sanitation facilities.
Politically this constituency has bounced between the INC and the BJP with Kirit Somaiya winning in 2014. But Somaiya has not been fielded by the BJP this time and their candidate is Manoj Kotak. NCP’s Sanjay Dina Patil is seen as his main opponent, though there are several others including over 20 independent candidates and some from smaller and newer parties.