To checkmate Shiv Sena, BJP keen to win most Mumbai seats

Traffic snarls, crumbling bridges and the economic slowdown aside, over 96 lakh Mumbaikars will gear up to elect representatives for 36 seats in the 14th state legislative assembly.
Apart from the haemorrhaging of the Opposition, the BJP appears to be in an impregnable position following the revoking of special status for Kashmir, which has gone down well with urban voters.To boot, the cleanliness and sanitation campaigns and huge funding and pace of infrastructure work is expected to shape the outcome.

The BJP believes it will replicate its Lok Sabha victory of May in which the saffron allies retained all six Mumbai seats with a high margin. This also explains Sena’s willingness to ink a poll pact (which is set to be announced soon), in contrast to Matoshree’s stand during the 2014 assembly polls which resulted in the two parties going solo. To assuage the Sena, which has to reconcile to playing second fiddle, BJP may offer the deputy CM’s post to Aaditya Thackeray.
Meanwhile, Congress, buffeted by the exit of many veterans, has to staunch the erosion of its shrinking base. Eknath Gaikwad, ex-MP who heads the Mumbai unit, is optimistic of resuscitating the party in its bastions of Colaba, Dharavi, Matunga, Bandra, Chembur, Mankhurd and Andheri, said a functionary.
NCP, which doesn’t boast of a big presence in the city, will try to close in on seats with a chunk of voters hailing from the rural heartland—Worli, Ghatkopar, Kanjurmarg, Chembur, and Magathane-Gorai.
Congress-NCP will target the regime on welfare, pace of slum rehab and living standards. The ruling alliance knows it has to contend with public ire due to inconveniences posed by work on Metro projects and the governance and infrastructure controversies that plague BMC and railways.
Environmental concerns echoed by the Aarey stir, have set alarm bells ringing in BJP-Sena, chiefly because of participation of students and young professionals. “The rise of GenNext is a warning to netas who have thrived on ‘zamindari’ politics,” said exbureaucrat Sharad Kale.
The BJP strategy is to use social media to stress on gains from works it has initiated. “We’ll tell Mumbaikars a vote for BJP-Sena will mean a vote for the city’s development,” said Anil Parab, a Sena vibhag pramukh. BJP’s Kandivli MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar said, “People know they will have a better life once projects are completed.”
Raj Thackeray’s MNS is likely to contest seats in Mumbai and hopes to benefit from BJP-Sena’s inability to paper over their differences. Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi will try to make a dent in Dalit-dominated pockets like Dharavi, Worli, Sewri, Chembur and Kandivli, though it will have to counter the RPI (Athavale) faction which has allied with BJP. The AIMIM, which won the Byculla seat last time, will target minority votes.