Mumbai: Back on the election campaign trail for the fifth time, former mayor Vishakha Raut is keenly aware of the high stakes involved. In ward 191, which covers Dadar’s Shivaji Park, Sena’s home turf, it has boiled down to a battle for prestige between just two contenders: Raut from Sena (UBT) and Sena’s Priya Sarvankar, daughter of former MLA Sada Sarvankar.Asked how she feels fighting Sena itself for the seat, Raut quips, “All’s fair in love and war,” adding that this is a battle she believes she must win. Recalling her first poll campaign in 1992, Raut says she was pregnant at that time. “My son was born after I was elected,” she says, smiling. “So, I became an elected representative before I became a mother.” TOI accompanied Raut on Tuesday as she began her campaign for the day with a visit to the statue of Meenatai Thackeray, wife of the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray. Tuesday marked her birth anniversary and Raut joined party chief Uddhav Thackeray and his wife Rashmi Thackeray in paying respects. From there, Raut began door-to-door campaigning, starting with the seven-decade-old residential buildings Matruchhaya and Pitruchhaya. While Raut found it difficult to climb up the four-storey buildings, once up, she was welcomed with curd and sugar, a traditional offering before any auspicious beginning. At one home, a resident told her she was relieved that Sena (UBT) and MNS had reunited. At another, a woman, Bina Churry, introduced herself as Raut’s cousin. “My mother was a Churry. So, I have a number of relatives and well-wishers in this colony,” she said. Laxman Bhosale, local shakha pramukh, who accompanied Raut, said this was perhaps the only ward where there was no competition within Sena (UBT)’s cadre on who was to be given the candidature. “Everyone wanted Vishakhatai to contest.” There was visible support from the party’s ally for the BMC polls, MNS, too—its workers joined her on the campaign trail. When the morning session of the campaign wrapped up around 2pm, Raut ensured her supporters were taken care of and arranged for snacks. The workers returned in the evening to resume the campaign. Raut, a former MLA, carries a lesser known legacy. In 1982, she was a teacher at Sharadashram Vidyamandir, where two of her students were former cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli.
