Mumbai campaigner’s long wait ends: ‘Tiffin lady’ gets BMC poll ticket after 35 years

MUMBAI: It took 35 years of tireless grassroots work in Shiv Sena for 58-year-old Bharati Pednekar to finally secure a ticket to contest the BMC elections.

TOI accompanied Pednekar, who is the local shakha vibhag sanghatak, last Friday through the old mill heartland of Parel, from where she is contesting on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket. A mother of two sons, Pednekar's political journey has run parallel to a life marked by struggle. She has been running a tiffin service for the past two decades, since her husband lost his job at Morarjee Mill after a fire shut it down.





As she moves from door to door in Parel's Kukka Sadan Rahivashi Sangh-flanked by her sons and party workers-Pednekar recalls that while this may be her first election as a candidate, campaigning is nothing new to her.

"Since 1992, I have walked these same lanes with every Shiv Sena candidate asking for votes, but this time, asking for votes for myself hits different," she says, adding how the tiffin service she runs was also a means for her to increase her reach within the locality. "I was born here and also married into a family in the same area. So, I know every corner of the locality and feel that I do deserve a chance to be elected," she says.

Apart from being confident of her prospects, Pednekar believes that the mill belt has remained a steadfast Shiv Sena stronghold over the years.

Her ward includes the sprawling KEM Hospital complex, and if elected, she says improving citizens' access to basic services there will be among her priorities. "Even today, people struggle to get the services they come here for," she says, pointing at her intent to make the civic hospital more citizen-friendly.

Walking alongside Pednekar are her party workers, like Pramila Adsul, who says she's confident of their win in this ward. "There are candidates contesting the election whom we haven't even seen in the past many years but have now come to the forefront to contest the municipal elections. People here have seen our party's work and we are sure they will ensure our candidate wins," said Adsul.

Pednekar's eldest son, Prathamesh, who is making all the arrangements when karyakartas go campaigning with his mother from one house to another, says it took her very long to get this chance. "My mother has worked for the party with no expectations. So, when the party decided to repose their faith in her this time and give her the ticket means everything to us."