In its first major electoral victory after the parent party split vertically in the wake of an Eknath Shinde-triggered rebellion in June this year, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena won the Andheri (East) Assembly by-poll on Sunday, when its candidate Rutuja Latke trounced her farthest rival by a margin of 65,000 votes in the polling held on November 3.
Given that the ruling BJP had withdrawn its candidate Murji Patel and all other major parties –including the NCP, Congress and Raj Thackeray-led MNS had extended their support to her, Rutuja’s win in the by-poll had become a foregone conclusion.
Rutuja of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) polled 66,530 (76.95 per cent) votes, while her rival Bala Venkatesh Vinayak Nadar secured 1,515 (1.5 per cent) votes.
In a poll where there were in all seven candidates, NOTA ( None Of The Above) secured 12,776 (14.79) per cent votes.
The Andheri (East) by-poll had been necessitated by sitting Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Late’s death. Rutuja Latke is the widow of Ramesh Latke who passed away on May 11, 2022. Latke was a Shiv Sena MLA before the party split in June this year in the wake of rebellion by the MLAs led by current chief minister Eknath Shinde.
Sunday’s is the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s first electoral success after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June this year, following a rebellion by 40-odd Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, who went onto become the chief minister of the state.
After the Election Commission froze the parent party’s symbol of ‘bow and arrow’ in the light of its pending dispute with the Sena-led by Eknath Shinde, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena fought the election with the new name Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and new symbol of “Mashal”.
Rutuja’s victory in the by-poll comes as a big boost to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the run-up to the crucial Brihan Municipal Corporation elections which in all likelihood will be held at the end of 2022 or early 2023.
The ruling BJP, which had put up Murji Patel as its candidate for the November 3 Assembly by-poll withdrew its nominee after MNS chief Raj Thackeray appealed to Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to withdraw from the contest as a mark of “reverence” to the Sena MLA and facilitate “unopposed” election of his wife Rutuja Latke.
Two other factors that contributed to the BJP’s decision to withdraw its candidate from the Assembly by-poll were: NCP chief Sharad Pawar had also suggested that Rutuja be elected unopposed in the by-poll as such a development would send a message to political parties across the country.
The Opposition NCP and Congress, which are part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), had earlier extended their support to Uddhav-led Shiv Sena’s candidate Rutuja.
Expressing his happiness over Rutuja’s victory in the Assembly by-poll, Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray said that the electoral outcome reflected the people’s faith in his party.
Talking to media persons at his Bandra residence “Matoshree” in north-west Mumbai, Uddhav said: "This is just the beginning of a fight. The party symbol is important but people look for our character as well.. The by-poll results show people have faith in us”.
“I appeal to Shiv Sainiks to fight all future battles in a united manner as we did in the Assembly-poll. Our party's name and symbol were frozen for this election but those who wanted this are nowhere near the electoral ring,” Uddhav said, alluding to the fact that the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena did not contest the by-poll despite fighting for a symbol with it before the Election Commission.