Andheri East Bypoll: NOTA votes belonged to Congress and NCP, says BJP

Mumbai: Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar on Monday said the NOTA votes polled in the Andheri East bypoll were the votes of Congress and NCP combined.

He was responding to Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray's jibe after the poll results were declared on Sunday.

"Had our opponents been in the poll fray, their candidate would have secured the same number of NOTA votes," Uddhav had said without taking the name of the BJP.

A total of 12,806 votes were cast under the None of The Above (NOTA) option, as per the data analysed on Sunday when the result was declared.

Rutuja Latke, the candidate of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) backed by NCP and Congress, won the bypoll by bagging 66,530 votes of the total 86,570 votes polled in the November 3 byelection.

Shelar also dared Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction leader Aaditya Thackeray to resign as MLA from the Worli constituency in Mumbai and face a bypoll.

"Had the BJP appealed (voters in Andheri), the NOTA tally would have been more than 72,000 votes instead of 12,000, which is the case. Nearly 31 per cent of voting was recorded during the by-election of the Andheri East Assembly constituency. This means that 70 per cent of people refrained from casting their votes as they are tired of this politics (of Shiv Sena).

He claimed the 12,000 votes received under NOTA are actually the votes of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.

“After winning the Andheri East Assembly constituency by-election, Uddhavji Thackeray had said the 'mashal' flared'. I challenge him to decide the date and time. Ask Aaditya Thackeray to step down as Worli MLA and show the courage to face a byelection. BJP activists will leave no stone unturned and will prove whether Uddhavji's Sena is a 'Mashaal' or just a 'Chilam' (portable smoking pipe),“ he added.

Latke had contested on the "Mashal" symbol as the Election Commission had frozen the 'bow and arrow' symbol of Shiv Sena.

The BJP leader was speaking at the second meeting of the party's 'Jagar Mumbaicha' campaign held in Andheri East.

Shelar praised former corporator Murji Patel for withdrawing from the Andheri (East) contest on November 3 on the directions of the party.

"After the declaration of 'Jagar Mumbaicha', some people grew restless. The opposition faction is depressed. It is not a campaign to ask for votes but it is aimed at creating awareness among Mumbaikars," Shelar said.

The BJP had launched the campaign apparently with an eye on the upcoming Mumbai civic elections.

"In a way, the outcome of the Andheri bypoll was auspicious as it once again proved that Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena cannot win without the help of BJP. Had Murji Patel contested the byelection, shakhas (branches) of Shiv Sena headed by Uddhavji would have to be shut down," he said.

If we revisit the statistics of 2014, it will be seen that in the elections in Andheri, neither the Congress nor the Nationalist Congress Party voted for Uddhavji's Sena.

Shelar said the BJP will win at least 8 out of 10 wards in Andheri (East) constituency in the BMC polls.