Mumbai: The upcoming BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections are all set to witness interesting contests as four formers Mayors of Mumbai are locked up in interesting fights which promises to be the toughest one in their political career. All four are veterans in the BMC…Shraddha Jadhav, Kishori Pednekar, Vishakha Raut and Milind Vaidya who have stood out among their peers for decades and headed various civic committees apart from being the First Citizen of this metropolis. They all are contesting from Shiv Sena (UBT) party headed by Uddhav Thackeray. Take the case of Shraddha Jadhav, who has been a corporator from 1992 onwards and is contesting for her 7th term. Standing from ward number 202 in Parel, Shraddha is being challenged by Shiv Sena (UBT) activist Vijay Indulkar who is standing as a rebel. After Shraddha’s candidature was announced last week, 128 local Sena office bearers resigned in protest, which was shocking considering that this area is considered as a Sena citadel right from 1970’s. The BJP side is represented by Parth Bavkar, who is a close confidant of popular Wadala legislator Kalidas Kolambkar and there is fear that Parth may sail through if votes are split between Shraddha and Indulkar. Indulkar accuses Shraddha of neglecting this area. “She has undertaken no developmental work in this constituency and the people are against her,” said Indulkar. Shraddha however dismisses Indulkar’s claim as baseless. “This is plain jealously and an attempt to defame our family. If I don’t work how did I get elected from the last 6 terms? I am confident of winning for the 7th term,” countered Shraddha. She was the Mayor of Mumbai from 2009 to 2012. The second high profile battle is ward number 191 which encompass areas like Siddhivinayak Mandir and Shivaji Park. Here veteran corporator Vishakha Raut who has also served as Dadar legislator is pitted against Priya Sarvankar, daughter of former legislator Sada Sarvankar. Vishakha who served as Mumbai’s Mayor during 1997-1998 is representing Shiv Sena (UBT) while her rival Priya is contesting from Shiv Sena (Shinde) faction. Priya calls Vishakha a failure. “She has been an inaccessible corporator and citizens were left to fend for themselves from the last eight years. People want a young face to represent them,” said Priya. Vishakha Raut laughs down Priya’s claim saying Shiv Sena has a legacy of doing people centric activities from this belt. “We have served the Dadar citizens for decades and this relationship is familial. What are Priya’s achievements except praising her father’s work who was incidentally with our party only,” said Vishakha. In her neighbourhood, Kishori Pednekar who the mayor from 2019 to 2022 is fighting from ward number 199 at Worli area. The local Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists are angry with her for bad mouthing their leader Raj Thackeray during her tenure as Mayor. In addition, a section of her own party are also up in arms against her. However Pednekar downplays the incident. “If I have said anything wrong about Rajsahjeb, I apologise for the same. Currently both Raj and Uddhav are our leaders and we are fighting the elections under their leadership,” said Pednekar. She had enlisted the help of senior MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar to convince the local MNS cadre to work for her. The fourth incumbent Milind Vaidya who served as Mumbai Mayor during 1996-1997 had to shift his ward and is contesting from ward number 182 at Mahim from number 183. He is being challenged by BJP candidate Rajan Parkar, who is popular figure from this constituency.
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