Mumbai: The BJP's first phase of campaigning in North Mumbai has been focused more on the Marathi belt of Magathane, Dahisar, and Charkop-Gorai as it is confident about the votes of Gujarati-Marwari and, to a lesser extent, north Indians. The traders and middle class of North Mumbai have always supported the BJP. But the 2009 Sanjay Nirupam vs Ram Naik contest showed what magic Marathi votes can do here. In the MNS-Sena battle, Nirupam won due to the division of Marathi votes. Of course, at that time, there was no Modi presence on the political front. Things have changed now. Modi is the choice of many middle-class Marathi families here. So, it will be interesting to see whether these Marathi votes go to the Uddhav Sena alone or whether Modi and Shinde's Grand Alliance will rise victorious.
BJP candidate and Union Minister Piyush Goyal started the campaign in the first phase by paying floral tributes to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Dahisar East. After that, he enjoyed Marathi food at a hotel and bonded with voters. BJP's need for Marathi votes in this constituency is evident. For this, BJP workers are engaged in dividing Marathi votes by insisting on meetings in housing and MHADA societies.
Keeping in mind Konkani folk's love for Konkan, Goyal urges people to postpone the program of going to the village in May this year and vote on May 20. Goyal recently held a grand rally of housing societies in Charkop, Gorai. The next day, he visited housing societies in another Marathi-dominated assembly constituency, Magathane. Later, he visited the branch of the former Sena corporator. Interestingly, Goyal, who focused only on central schemes and the achievements of the Modi government in his speech, spoke on local issues here.