Tough fight in Vandre East seat: It's Baba Siddique's son Zeeshan vs Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew Varun

Vandre East Assembly Election 2024: The Vandre East seat is gearing up for a heated three-horse contest in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) fielded former MLA Trupti Sawant and Ajit Pawar's NCP faction fielded Zeeshan Siddique for the seat that was once considered a bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena. On the other hand, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has fielded Varun Sardesai, who is making his electoral debut from the Vandre East constituency. Sardesai will contest against Siddique, who entered the race seeking sympathy votes following the recent murder of his father, Baba Siddique, a leader from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).  As Uddhav Thackeray's nephew, Varun brings with him the political legacy of the Thackeray family, which has a strong presence in Mumbai, particularly in Shiv Sena's traditional strongholds. This multi-cornered contest is expected to be one of the most closely watched and fiercely contested in Maharashtra's political scene in 2024.

Key candidates

Zeeshan Siddique, the current MLA, switched to Ajit Pawar's NCP faction from the Congress following the death of his father and former minister Baba Siddique. He is now facing competition from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Varun Sardesai. Raj Thackeray's MNS has nominated former Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Trupti Sawant for the seat, while Kunal Sarmalkar, an office bearer of Shiv Shinde (Eknath Shinde), is contesting as an independent. This has turned the election into a four-way contest.

The BJP is contesting the election in alliance with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP and other smaller parties. On the other hand, in the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Congress,  Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) are in alliance. 

Vandre East Assembly Constituency  

The Vandre East Assembly constituency is one of the 288 constituencies in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. It is constituency number 176 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and one of the 26 constituencies located in the Mumbai Suburban district. The constituency is a general seat not reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Vandre East is part of the Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha constituency in the Mumbai Suburban district. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-Ajit Pawar), Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), NCP (Sharad Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are the main parties in the state. Congress candidate Zeeshan Siddique has won the Vandre East seat in the 2019 elections. 

Vandre East Constituency Demographic Profile

As per data from the Election Commission, there were 2,51,371 voters in the Vandre East constituency during the 2019 Assembly Elections. Out of this, 1,35,655 were male and 1,15,708 were female voters. No voter belonged to the third gender. 211 postal votes were cast in the constituency. The number of service voters in Vandre East in 2019 was 14 (13 men and 1 woman).

In 2014, the total number of voters in the Vandre East constituency was 2,63,798. Out of this, 1,45,652 voters were male and 1,18,141 were female voters. There were 58 valid postal votes in the constituency. The number of service voters in Vandre East in 2014 was 29 (22 men and 7 women).

What happened in the 2019 and 2014 Assembly Elections?

In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, Congress candidate Zeeshan Siddique won the seat with a margin of 5,790 votes (4.67%). He was polled 38,337 votes with a vote share of 30.28%. He defeated Shiv Sena candidate Prin. Vishwanath Pandurang Mahadeshwa, who got 32,547 votes (25.71%). Independent candidate Trupti Prakash Sawant stood third with 24,071 votes (19.01%), and AIMIM candidate Mohammad Saalim Qureshi was in the fourth position with 12,594 votes (9.95%). The total number of valid votes polled was 1,26,597 (50.36%).

In the 2014 Maharashtra Assembly Elections, Shiv Sena candidate Prakash Sawant won the seat. He was polled 41,388 votes with a vote share of 33.23 %. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Krishna Dhondu Parkar got 25,791 votes (20.71%) and was the runner-up. Sawant defeated Parkar by a margin of 15,597 votes (12.61%). The total number of valid votes polled in this constituency was 1,24,555 (47.22%). AIMIM candidate Khan Rahebar Siraj came in third with 23,976 votes (19.25%) and Congress candidate Bagadi Sanjeev Kherlal stood fourth with just 12,229 votes (9.82%).