Maharashtra's two women: United in grief, divided in politics

April 11 will determine the political careers of two women­­­ in Maharashtra — both wives of popular legislators who lost a long and difficult battle to cancer. Tragic circumstances forced the women to step out of the shadows of their husbands and leave the comfort of the home to jump into the electoral fray. If former home minister RR Patil’s wife, Suman Patil, is the NCP’s candidate from Tasgaon, the Shiv Sena handpicked their MLA Prakash Sawant’s wife Trupti to fill in for her husband. The obvious logic was: the voters would lend their support to the wife as well. However, while their circumstances may be the same, the two women have vastly contrasting political reality facing them.

For Mrs Patil, the bypolls appear to be a cakewalk. The housewife had always stayed away from public life, preferring to raise her three children in Tasgaon instead of moving to Mumbai with her husband, RR Patil, who held the crucial home portfolio in the Congress-NCP government. The former minister’s warm relations with colleagues across parties and his popularity among the people, has prompted other parties to stay away from these elections. As a mark of respect to the leader, who was known to work tirelessly for the underprivileged, even opposition parties like the Sena and the BJP, have not fielded a candidate. Patil, however, has around 10 independents in the fray but the election is set to be a cakewalk for her.

For the other widow in Mumbai, however, the story is completely different. Trupti is a familiar face among the people who trooped to the Sawant household every morning to ask their MLA, fondly known as Bala Sawant, for help. Through his long battle with cancer, Mrs Sawant filled in for her husband, meeting people who came knocking with requests ranging from admissions to financial assistance for medical help. The Shiv Sena, ignoring other party workers and ticket hopefuls, fielded her. The idea was to cash in on people’s sympathy and the support she enjoys as Mrs Sawant. While the Sena, especially the women’s wing, and the allies are out campaigning for her, a victory will be far from easy. The political novice is set to battle the Congress’ Narayan Rane, a firebrand politician, who has embarked on a high-profile campaign. To add to her troubles is the AIMIM candidate who is eyeing the Muslim vote, which constitutes almost 30 per cent of the constituency. The alleged dissent in her own party is set to make things tougher for Sawant who, until now, had restricted herself to meeting people at her house.

As the campaign heats up, Patil is meeting her constituents, knowing that she will soon enter the Maharashtra legislative assembly, effortlessly. A few hundred kilometers away, Sawant is going all out to remind the constituency of her husband’s untiring work, knowing that it wont be an easy debut for her.