Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Sports Anurag Thakur Monday convened a series of district core meetings to consolidate the organisational base in the Mumbai South Central parliamentary constituency.
As part of preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s central leadership had shortlisted 160 of the total 545 constituencies as tough seats. Of these, Maharashtra has 48 constituencies of which 18 are tough for the party. And, Thakur has been given the responsibilities of the crucial constituencies of Mumbai South Central and Kalyan in Maharashtra as part of the party’s Lok Sabha Pravas campaign.
दक्षिण मध्य मुंबई जिल्हा लोकसभा प्रवास योजना कार्यक्रमांतर्गत केंद्रीय मंत्री @ianuragthakur जी यांच्या प्रमुख उपस्थितीत, जिल्हा कोअर कमिटीची बैठक पार पडली. यावेळी @officeofbjpsc जिल्ह्यातील विविध कामांचा आढावा घेण्यात आला. १/१ pic.twitter.com/WNGRpgal2Y
— BJP Mumbai (@BJP4Mumbai) February 13, 2023
Interestingly, both these Lok Sabha seats are represented by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. The Kalyan Lok Sabha seat is represented by Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant Shinde and the Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha constituency is held by the Shinde faction leader Rahul Shewale. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Shewale contested as the Shiv Sena candidate. But following the split in Shiv Sena last June, Shewale along with 12 MPs out of 18 joined the Shinde faction.
A senior BJP functionary said, “We had drawn the 18 seats list when the Shiv Sena had not spilt. Our objective is to leave no stone unturned in our pre-poll preparations in the constituencies where BJP is on a weak wicket.”
The Mumbai South Central Lok Sabha constituency has six Assembly seats—Sion Koliwada, Wadala, Chembur, Anushakti Nagar, Dharavi, and Mahim. Out of these six Assembly seats, two are held by BJP MLAs—Sion Koliwada by R Tamil Selvan and Wadala by Kalidas Kolbambkar. Former NCP Minister Nawab Malik represents Anushakti Nagar. While former Congress minister Varsha Gaikwad holds the Dharavi seat. The Chembur Assembly seat is represented by Prakash Phaterpekar from the Shiv Sena (UBT).
During his visit, Thakur will review all these six Assembly constituencies which come under Mumbai South Central. Apart from the core committee meeting interaction with the party’s social media cell, its legal team will also be a part of the visit.
Before this, the BJP leader was in Mumbai on a three-day tour in September last year to address issues and take measures to strengthen these two Lok Sabha seats.
Ahead of the crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, the BJP is also using the Lok Sabha Pravas Yojana to make deeper inroads in each and every Assembly constituency in Mumbai. The BMC elections are scheduled to be held this year, but the dates are yet to be announced. But the BJP has embarked on a two-pronged strategy by deploying its Union ministers to maximise public outreach in their respective constituencies.
The BJP’s outreach plan will help the Shinde faction too. In 2024, the BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena will contest the Lok Sabha polls as alliance partners. The BJP has set an ambitious target to win over 45 out of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Whereas, in the 288-seat Maharashtra Assembly, the BJP and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena have their eyes on over 200 seats.
