Ahead of the Lok Sabha election in Mumbai, all political parties have named their candidates to contest from their respective constituencies. After Urmila Matondkar joined Congress, the party nominated her to fight from the Mumbai North constituency against the sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Gopal Shetty. With Shetty’s strong candidature under the BJP and Shiv Sena alliance, Congress initially had trouble figuring out whom to field from this Lok Sabha constituency in Mumbai.
Earlier, during 2014 national elections, riding on the Modi wave, Shetty set a record and was able to defeat Congress candidate Sanjay Nirupam by more than four lakh votes. The Mumbai North constituency is considered an important seat for the BJP as Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik was elected five-times consecutively from 1989 to 2004. Congress claimed this seat in 2004 as Bollywood Actor Govinda defeated the incumbent Ram Naik. In 2009, Sanjay Nirupam held the seat for Congress for another term.
With his past responsibilities as a three-time Corporator and two-time MLA, Gopal Shetty has a strong image among the party workers. Shetty has also been appointed the BJP Mumbai Chief and has celebrated 27 years in the public life. Along with this, Shetty has also been Mumbai’s Deputy-Mayor.
The senior leader started his political journey as a regular party worker in the BJP. Later, in 1992, 1997, and 2002 he was elected as Corporator to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. In 2004 and 2009, Shetty became an MLA after contesting the Maharashtra assembly elections from the same region.
While filing an affidavit for 2014 Lok Sabha election, Shetty informed that his assets are worth ₹9.56 crore. However, in the affidavit filed for Lok Sabha election this year, Shetty’s assets have increased by 65 per cent. Shetty’s total wealth has been recorded as ₹15.78 crore.
Shetty, also known as ‘Garden Samrat’, has focused on developing gardens all across his parliamentary constituency. However, Shetty has been accused of transferring the gardens to his own non-governmental organisations. The gardens have been constructed on reserved government, BMC and State government properties.
Like other BJP leaders, Gopal Shetty has been a part of controversies over his communal remarks. While addressing a gathering, Shetty had claimed that the Christian community has no contribution in the freedom struggle as “they were Britishers” while saying that the people who participated in the struggle were Hindus and Muslims.
Christians were British, hence they didn’t participate in the freedom movement. India was not freed by a Hindu or a Muslim, we fought as one for our independence.
While commenting on the farmer suicides, Gopal Shetty made another controversial statement that was insensitive to say the least.
Not all farmers' suicides happen due to unemployment and starvation. A fashion is going on. A trend is on,"
If re-elected, Gopal Shetty has promised to work on the housing problems in his Mumbai North constituency. This especially includes the clearance of several slum development schemes. Also, in spite of the flak, he's received for his work on open spaces and gardens he would like to continue to work on the preservation of the same.
This Lok Sabha election, he’s up against Bollywood star and first-time candidate, Urmila Matondkar. Urmila is new to the political scene in the country but is also a fresh face for the people in the Mumbai suburbs who might want a change of leadership. The anti-incumbency factor might work against Gopal Shetty who's been reigning strong in this area be it at the local, state or national representation
Gopal Shetty is a strong candidate for the BJP in Mumbai. Urmila Matondkar will find it hard to overthrow someone with a 100% win record in elections. 38 out of the 43 Corporators in this constituency belong to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and this proves a deep penetration at the grass root level for the saffron alliance. However, Shetty will have to mask the anti-incumbency trend to keep his seat secure.
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