The Congress, which is fielding Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar as its candidate in Mumbai North constituency against sitting BJP MP Gopal Shetty, hopes to repeat what it did in 2004 general elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost in 2004 in thisconstituency when the Congress fielded popular actor Govinda Ahuja against the veteran MP Ram Naik. Govinda had won by a small margin in the constituency that is historically a Congress stronghold where it has been able to retain this seat in 1984, 2004 and 2009.

The question is will the Bollywood factor work in favour of Congress in 2019 with Matondkar, a novice in politics but has the capability to pull crowd and eye balls because of the glamour factor. Matondkar, in her maiden election campaign today

said that while everyone is projecting her as a star, the real stars in a democracy are the common man. The actresssaid that there is much intolerance among the people in general and that Congress will win this war with love.

Matondkar was able to pull up a decent crowd, even as the crowd made up of mostly women and kids, created a commotion as they wanted to click selfies with the star.

Matondkar’s rally was dominated by Congress stalwarts Milind Deora and Sanjay Nirupam, who refused to fight against BJP’s Gopal Shetty after he faced a massive defeat last elections. Deora, who formally introduced Matondkar to the voters of Mumbai North, said that the party if voted to power in this constituency will works towards resolving the growing issues related to slum redevelopment and guarantee housing for all.

Meanwhile, Shetty, who also started his campaign today, seems to be very popular among the residents of Mumbai North.

Shetty, who has won from this constituency as an MLA and worked up from a grass-root level, has brought in several developments in this area. His rally also witnessed presence of several people from the minority community.

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