MUMBAI: Former
Mira-Bhayandar
mayor
Geeta Jain
's victory over sitting BJP MLA Narendra Mehta in the twin city's assembly constituency has become one of the most talked-about wins of a saffron camp rebel in the just-concluded assembly polls. Marked by drama in the election run-up, the contest's colours refuse to fade even at its conclusion.
"The people have reposed faith in me. Not only was I Draupadi in this battle, all of Mira-Bhayandar was treated badly by the rulers. My supporters became Krishna and rescued me," a jubilant Jain (55), who contested as an independent, said on Friday after becoming the twin city's first woman MLA. For good reason. A local favourite for quite some time, as opposed to Mehta, who got embroiled in a couple of controversies in recent months, traditional saffron voters wanted her to get the BJP's ticket. "That didn't occur. Mehta, considered here to be the chief minister's blue-eyed boy, got nominated," said one of Jain's supporters. A post-result analysis showed that a large chunk of Mehta's traditional Gujarati-Marwari-North Indian voter base ditched him.
Differences cropped up between Mehta and Jain two years ago when the former ensured that Jain, who was Mira-Bhayandar's mayor between 2015-17, was replaced in the post by his sister-in-law Dimple Mehta. The move only increased Jain's popularity locally, as a perception took root that she was a 'woman wronged'. Adding to the groundswell of support for her was disenchantment within a section of local Shiv Sena corporators and workers with Mehta over a memorial for Bal Thackeray. The Sainiks, feeling slighted, started rooting for Jain.
On Friday, a day after she defeated Mehta by over 15,500 votes, Jain's WhatsApp status message read: 'Let the agenda be the development of Mira-Bhayander'. Despite her victory, and though she quit the BJP before filing her nomination papers, she insists that she continues to be a diehard follower of the party. In fact, the BJP's lotus flag was ubiquitous in her victory procession. "I am not against the lotus," said Jain, who was on a padyatra throughout Friday morning thanking voters. "I just want to clean the muck below it."