Mumbai Diary: Run-up to the Andheri East by-polls

Delay in CM’s schedule hurting his officers 
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is known for his erratic programme handling such as meeting people late at night to spending more than the scheduled time at personal engagements, resulting in major delays. This has been further hampering the coordination of the chief minister’s programmes and his protocol officials are now left piqued. The situation has gone haywire, and now these officials are seeking transfers to other departments. The working hours of these officials have been overshot so much that they are forced to spend extra for late-night trips back home from work. 

Patole remains absent for Congress matters
Congress party is in the fourth spot in the state, but what’s worse is its leaders have been mired in a coarse internal conflict – a situation now other parties suffer in the state. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole’s absence along with senior leaders Balasaheb Thorat and  Ashok Chavan is felt these days with the unit planning for the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Seniors in the party are left to carry on with party affairs without the chief. Recently, a senior delegation went to meet Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar to extend invitations for the Yatra, and in both meetings, Patole’s absence was notable. 

BJP-Shinde swift to retract candidate
The BJP-Shinde faction found itself in a fiasco in the run-up to the Andheri East by-polls, prompting them to withdraw its candidate at the eleventh hour. Taking moral high ground, they swiftly extended support to Thackeray’s candidate Rutuja Latke even as unrest among the coalition’s MLAs grew. The BJP-Shinde faction also found out that the mood seems to be favouring Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, sources said, adding that they are more worried about future prospects whether they get re-elected or not. It is no secret that both factions were troubling Rutuja Latke for approving her resignation as a BMC employee. 

Sudhir Suryawanshi 
Our correspondent in Maharashtra
suryawanshi.sudhir@gmail.com