Close to a third of the constituency's population is Marathi-speaking and almost an equal number of people belong to the Muslim community. Jadhav, who has a non-controversial image, enjoys the support of both communities, particularly the latter, though he claims he is not an adherent of vote bank politics. He says he has a long history of serving the constituency, first as a corporator, and then as a legislator.
The candidature of BJP's Ameet Satam, a corporator since 2012, has been backed by several citizen forums. In fact, some forums had approached BJP, seeking his nomination. Satam's initiatives regarding the citizen participation model in civic activities may work in his favour. The management graduate says, "I am a citizens' candidate affiliated to a political party and they will ensure my victory."
Joining the fray is senior Sena leader Jaywant Parab, who has worked in the constituency for over four decades. Parab, who returned to Sena after a brief stint in Congress, is likely to get the backing of Marathi voters. "They will remain with Sena," he says. "Once elected, my focus will be on taking up cleanliness work in the Andheri station area, and getting a designated hawkers' zone."
MNS's Raiees Lashkariya was a strong candidate in the last polls, but pundits say that on account of BJP fielding a "citizen candidate", he may not give much of a competition to Congress.
NCP has nominated social worker Alpana Painter, who too is dismissed by poll pundits. In all, 15 candidates are in the contestants' pool.
Voters expect their elected representative to solve a whole host of problems, mainly the pathetic state of traffic, owing to encroachments and poor road discipline.
Andheri West is one of the constituencies where voter turnout has been disappointing, given its large upper middle-class segment. It is generally the slum pockets in Juhu Galli and Nehru Nagar, which house almost one lakh voters, that see dedicated voting queues every election.
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