Mumbai: With the upcoming Maharashtra assembly election likely to be a tightrope walk for both the ruling as well as the Opposition alliances, the Congress is keen on pulling former MP Priya Dutt out of her political hibernation, with an eye on the coveted Bandra West seat.
Sources from the Mumbai Congress told ThePrint that the city Congress President, Varsha Gaikwad, has been actively trying to push Dutt to consider contesting the state assembly poll from Bandra West to take on two-time MLA and incumbent Ashish Shelar from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A senior Mumbai Congress functionary, who wished to not be named, said, “Varsha tai is aiming to get Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidates elected from at least four or five of the six assembly seats in her constituency. She initiated the conversation with Priya Dutt to contest. We still haven’t received any answer from her, but it looks like she is considering the request.”
Gaikwad had successfully contested this year’s Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North Central constituency—Dutt’s old seat.
The Mumbai Congress leader noted that Priya Dutt’s attendance at a gathering of party workers from the Mumbai suburban district in Jogeshwari Monday—her first in five years—has given the leadership some confidence that she is considering their request to contest.
ThePrint reached Gaikwad via calls and text messages and Dutt via texts. This report will be updated if and when responses are received.
Dutt has been a two-time MP. She contested the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections, too, from the Mumbai North West constituency, but lost both times to BJP’s Poonam Mahajan.
Party leaders say Priya Dutt began distancing herself from politics and party affairs even before the 2019 assembly elections. In 2018, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) removed her from the post of secretary. Some believe she may have requested the removal herself, while others argue it didn’t matter since she had already begun stepping away from active political involvement. In January 2019, Dutt clarified that she did not want to contest the Lok Sabha elections that year. However, two months later, the party got her to change her mind.
Out of political hibernation
Monday was the first time since 2019 that Dutt was seen at a Mumbai Congress event where leaders such as Ramesh Chennithala, the Congress’s in-charge for Maharashtra, and U.B. Venkatesh, the party’s in-charge for Mumbai, were also present.
She didn’t just participate in the gathering, but also sat on the dais, took the microphone and addressed party workers directly.
A former MLA and a senior Mumbai Congress leader who was at the event, told ThePrint, “She didn’t say anything on her political or electoral intentions, but thanked karyakartas for working for the party and showering leaders like her with their love and support, and overall boosted their morale.”
The same day, Dutt also attended the Mumbadevi Women’s Fest hosted by Congress MLA Amin Patel.
“All of this shows, she wants to re-engage with party workers and voters,” the above-mentioned former MLA said.
According to party leaders, last month, Gaikwad visited Dutt’s home where the Mumbai Congress chief is said to have discussed Dutt’s possible candidature.
Dutt had also stepped out to campaign for Gaikwad ahead of the Lok Sabha polls this year.
‘Not easily accessible, but a strong candidate’
Mumbai Congress leaders say, Dutt has never been a grassroots politician, who is accessible to anyone who wants to meet her or constantly working on the ground. She has, however, still managed to draw a significant number of votes despite limited campaigning due to the goodwill created first by her father, late actor and former MP Sunil Dutt, and later through her own work as part of the Nargis Dutt foundation.
A BJP functionary who wished to not be named told ThePrint that the Congress’s hold on the Mumbai North Central constituency and the Dutt family’s goodwill, especially in the Muslim-dominated areas of Bandra, is so strong that even during the strongest ‘Narendra Modi wave’ in 2019, Dutt was able to get sizeable amount of votes without much campaigning.
“Priya Dutt sat at home and got 3.5 lakh votes in the constituency just like that. That’s the Congress’s assured voter base there. Our winning margin was just about 1.3 lakh,” the BJP functionary said.
This time, Gaikwad won the constituency, trumping BJP candidate, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, by a slim 16,514 votes.
Dutt’s very first victory in electoral politics was also on the back of tepid campaigning. In 2005, Dutt was heavily pregnant when she decided to contest the bypoll for her late father’s parliamentary seat after his death and had to be rushed to the hospital for delivery in the run up to the elections.
Speaking to ThePrint ahead of the 2019 election, Dutt had said she had chosen to not connect with her constituency on a political front.
“I have always been very accessible. And I always explain to them that as an MP, I cannot reach everywhere. The office is there. The workers are there. Anything you need, you should be able to get help. I always connected with people on a social front, and not political,” she said.
She also said that she had decided to take a backseat from active politicking to focus more on her work with the Nargis Dutt Foundation.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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