Mumbai South: A high-profile seat with big names on both sides of poll clashes

The high-profile Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency, which saw the departure of former MP Milind Deora from the Congress to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena on Sunday, has largely remained with the Congress for most of the last six decades. The BJP has only twice in the period, since 1962 – in 1996, and 1999. However, if the Congress won the seat eight times in the 15 elections held between 1962 and 2014, the party lost it to the undivided Shiv Sena in 2014 and 2019.

Apart from these main parties, the Socialist Party and the Janata Party have also won Mumbai South.

The MP from Mumbai South holds considerable clout as the constituency is home to the who’s who of India’s financial capital, from leading industrialists and politicians to bureaucrats and artists. Mantralaya, which is the headquarters of state government, and the Vidhan Bhavan, where the legislature convenes, are all located in this constituency. Its scenic coastal stretch gives the constituency a distinct identity. From the Bombay Stock Exchange to the Jehangir Art Gallery, several important institutions are located in the Mumbai South constituency.

In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP got its first break in Mumbai South, the party’s Jayawantiben Mehta had defeated Milind’s father and Congress veteran Murli Deora in a direct contest. While the BJP polled 44.68% of the votes, the Congress had to settle for 37.21%. The Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Marzban Patrawala polled 15.52% of the votes, marking the party’s entry in the constituency.

Mehta, handpicked by the BJP to take on Deora, managed her first win after multiple attempts against the Congress leader, the first of these being in 1984. Defeating Deora was no mean task, given his proximity to the powers