Andheri East Bypoll: Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena Wins, Chair For Rituja Latke
Andheri, 6th November 2022: Shiv Sena’s (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) candidate Rituja Latke on Sunday won the by-election to the Andheri (East) assembly seat in Mumbai. In May this year, the death of Shiv Sena MLA and Rituja Latke’s husband, Ramesh Latke, necessitated the bypoll to the seat, which went to polls on November 3.
It was a mere formality after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dropped its candidate from the race for the by-polls. It was the first election contest in Maharashtra after the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government collapsed in June due to a rebellion by a section of Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde.
Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Latke had represented the Andheri (East) assembly seat twice. Shiv Sena won 56 seats in the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections. Due to the death of Ramesh Latke in May this year, the number had come down to 55.
In June, 40 Shiv Sena MLAs led by Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party leadership, resulting in the fall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government (MVA). After this, Shinde became the Chief Minister in alliance with the BJP.
