Elections 2019: Congress goes Rangeela, ropes in Urmila Matondkar

The Congress's search for candidates for Mumbai's two prime seats seems to have ended, with the high command approving city president Sanjay Nirupam for the North-West and veteran actor Urmila Matondkar for Mumbai North. While Nirupam's name as candidate was announced late Monday, Urmila's will take some time, party sources said.

Nirupam's candidature was delayed because of opposition to his name from within the party. Some prominent leaders like Kripashankar Singh had also thrown their hats in the ring. The contention of the Nirupam detractors was that he should stick to his previous constituency, Mumbai North, where he had won a term and lost in 2014. The vacancy in North-West occurred because of Gurudas Kamat's death. As Kamat's wife and son were not willing to contest, the seat was up for grabs.

Starry affair in North

The confirmation followed Nirupam's grand welcome in Shastri Nagar where hundreds of workers gathered on Monday. Nirupam has been working in the segment, opening offices and meeting people over the past year. He faces Shiv Sena's sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar, who had beaten Kamat the last time.

The North segment has been given a star quotient yet again by the Congress, reviving memories of actor Govinda turning out to be a giant killer against BJP's Ram Naik in 2004. The actor was replaced by Nirupam in 2009 and the splitting of votes by MNS helped the Congress retain the seat. But, five years after, the Modi wave swept Nirupam away with BJP's Gopal Shetty leading with a second largest victory margin in the country.

The crushing defeat and the BJP's stronghold has been proving a deterrent for senior Congress leaders who were asked to contest from the North. A Gujarati leader, Pravin Chheda, joined the BJP a couple of days after the Congress offered him a ticket from the North.

Sources said the Congress has been angling for celebrities from Bollywood and cricket. Govinda's nephew and comedian Abhishek Krishna rejected the offer and former India cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin, too, declined. Finally, Matondkar's candidature was decided in view of her Marathi credentials and glamour that the party thought would make her a prospective vote-puller.

The Congress's line-up for five seats in Mumbai is now complete. Former MPs Milind Deora (South), Eknath Gaikwad (South-Central) and Priya Dutt (North-Central) are other official candidates.

BJP-Sena resolve Palghar

CM Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray managed what the other alliances couldn't in the seat-sharing arrangement. For Palghar, which the BJP had won against the Sena in a bypoll, it was agreed to field a sitting MP Rajendra Gavit as Sena's official candidate. The decision would check rebellion in the BJP and also give Sena an advantage.

A similar arrangement was done for Satara where BJP's Narendra Patil would be Sena's official candidate against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's direct descendant Udayanraje Bhosale, a sitting MP of NCP.

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