Mumbai polls: Villagers to swell netas’ support base

With zilla parishad (ZP) and panchayat samiti elections wrapping up, candidates in the race for the BMC polls on February 16 are likely to pool together 'gaonwallahs' to display their strength in the run-up to the big day.

An RPI (Athawale faction) functionary in Mulund, said, "Following local governing bodies' elections, villager-activists will be free since there is also no full-fledged agricultural work going on.”

A Wadala-based MNS worker added that past elections have seen people from the Konkan, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra coming to the city. "Mumbai is home to a large number of people hailing from the Konkan. Given its proximity to Mumbai, people from the region will be seen distributing pamphlets, waving flags and shouting slogans until the last day of campaigning," he said and added the possibility of non-Maharashtrian candidates attempting something similar.

Former deputy mayor and sitting BJP corporator Vinod Ghedia believes this 'show business' hardly matters on the crucial day. He said, "I would be accompanied by four-five men as against 200-300 people accompanying my opponents. So, I would feel nervous about my prospects until the results were out and I was declared a winner."