Will the BJP get the Andheri East Assembly constituency seat this time… which it has been eyeing for over 10 years? The seat has always been with the Shiv Sena, and after the split, the Shinde faction claimed it during the bypoll. At the time, the BJP too had announced its candidate, but later had to withdraw. Now, once again the Shinde-BJP camp is at odds over the same seat. While the Shinde faction wants encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma’s wife Swikruti to be its candidate for the Andheri seat, the BJP is pushing for its local leader Murji Patel. There are talks in the constituency that if Patel is not given candidature, he might contest independently.

The Andheri East Assembly seat has been represented by a two-time Shiv Sena MLA. Following the passing of MLA Ramesh Latke, his wife Rutuja won the byelection on a Sena (UBT) ticket. However, party sources indicate that workers and voters are dissatisfied. A Sena (UBT) worker from the Andheri East constituency remarked, “Ramesh Latke was very approachable, but Rutuja isn’t as active or accessible as he was. Party workers are dissatisfied and there are rumours that Sena (UBT) might consider another candidate. Discussions suggest Pramod Sawant is also in the running.” In the 2019 Assembly elections, Murji Patel ran as an independent candidate, finishing with 45,808 votes. Ramesh Latke, representing the undivided Shiv Sena, won the election with 62,773 votes.