Andheri (East) bypoll on November 3 a mere formality

Mock poll will be conducted at 6 a.m. to test the machines before they open for actual polling, Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer Shrikanth Deshpande said

Polling for the Andheri (East) byelection on Thursday has become a lacklustre event as BJP’s candidate Murji Patel is out of the contest. For Uddhav Thackeray’s candidate Rutuja Ramesh Latke, the election is a mere formality with six other candidates – four of them independent, having little significance.

The byelection was necessitated due to the sudden death of Ms. Latke’s husband and Shiv Sena legislator Ramesh Latke following a cardiac arrest in May.

Until the BJP withdrew its candidate last month, the election was seen as the first battle post-split and a litmus test for Mr. Thackeray to prove his strength ahead of the BMC (Mumbai civic body) elections. It was also seen as a trial run for the ensuing BMC elections. The BJP, NCP, Congress and rival groups of Shiv Sena have all been going the extra mile to wrest control of the country’s richest civic body which has an annual budget of about ₹45,900 crore.

However, upholding the political tradition in Maharashtra of not contesting a bypoll if the relative of a deceased legislator enters the fray, the saffron party withdrew its candidate.

The decision was taken after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief and Mr. Thackeray’s estranged cousin Raj Thackeray, and NCP chief Sharad Pawar appealed to Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis to drop their candidate and ensure election of Ms. Latke unopposed in the byelection as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Members of the Uddhav camp have claimed that the BJP pulled out its candidate as they knew they would lose the election.

Despite BJP withdrawing its candidate, the bypoll was necessitated as per schedule as six more candidates were still in the fray. Apart from Ms. Latke, the candidates who remain in the contest include Milind Kashinath Kamble (Independent), Neena Ganpat Khedekar (Independent), Manoj Nayak (Right to Recall Party), Rajesh Ramdular Tripathi (Independent), Farhana Siraj Sayed (Independent), and Bala Venkatesh Vinayak Nadar (Aapki Apni Party (Peoples).