Lotus blooms in Navi Mumbai, clock almost stops ticking

NAVI MUMBAI: The net gainers among all parties in the Navi Mumbai-Raigad regions have been the BJP and Shiv Sena. While the BJP managed to get two seats — Panvel and Belapur — Shiv Sena has managed to wrest Uran from the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP).
Post the assembly election results, political analysts have surmised that the defeat of NCP strongman and five-time MLA Ganesh Naik from Belapur assembly was the outcome of the Modi wave prevailing even after the Lok Sabha elections.Also, anti-incumbency factor is believed to have caused the defeat of Ganesh Naik as it was alleged that there was growing dissent among the electorate against the Naik family.
Manda Mhatre is said to have benefitted from the anti-incumbency and also the Modi wave as she contested on a BJP ticket after defecting from the NCP, ahead of the assembly elections. Non-Maharashtrians who were convinced by Modi’s style of governance, voted in favour of BJP, due to which Manda Mhatre from Belapur and Vaibhav Naik from Airoli garnered a large number of votes.
The Raigad-Navi Mumbai region has traditionally been a PWP bastion. Even the Panvel assembly seat was represented by PWP prior to Prashant Thakur snatching it in 2009. The PWP Lok Sabha candidate for Maval had a lead in Panvel Assembly seat in the last Lok Sabha elections. Similarly, Uran has been represented by PWP.
However, PWP just won two seats — Alibaug and Pen constituencies — while NCP won in Karjat and Shrivardhan. Shiv Sena won the Uran assembly seat.