Mumbai:

A case has been registered against Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) Mumbai South MP Arvind Sawant for his derogatory remark against Shaina NC, who is contesting the Mumbadevi Assembly seat as a candidate from the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena.

Based on a complaint by Shaina NC, the Nagpada Police Station registered a first information report against Mr Sawant, 72. The Maharashtra State Commission for Women has also taken cognisance of the issue and asked the police to probe the matter thoroughly.

“I am not some ‘maal’ (goods). I am a daughter of Mumbai and working dedicatedly for the past 20 years. This is a crass comment by Sawant. I am a ‘mahila’ (woman), not a ‘maal’. Everyone knows that the Maha Vinash Aghadi (a play on the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition) has no respect for women. The Mahayuti government is doing a lot for our womenfolk, like the ‘Ladki Bahin’ scheme,” said Shaina NC.

She warned that the people of the Mumbadevi constituency would give an appropriate reply to Mr Sawant, who, she claimed, had won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections using the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Though a senior BJP leader earlier, owing to seat adjustments, Shaina NC, 52, joined the Shiv Sena and was given the ticket for the prestigious Mumbadevi seat, where she is fighting three-term Congress MLA Amin Patel and BJP rebel, Atul H Shah.

Mr Sawant had made the comments during a media interaction a couple of days ago, when he was asked about Shaina NC’s prospects.

Responding to his remark, Shaina NC, said, “We (BJP) had campaigned for him (Sawant) and he was elected on our strength. Ask him where he was from. I am a ‘laadli’ (beloved) daughter of Mumbai, and I am working for the people of the city. I don’t need any certificates from Mr Sawant or the Shiv Sena (UBT).” 

Mr Sawant later claimed that he had a good equation with Shaina NC and she may have misunderstood his comment. “It refers to ‘goods’, but she could have misinterpreted it. I had no such intentions,” he said. 

Mumbadevi (earlier Umarkhadi) elected Amin Patel in 2009 and then also during the BJP waves of 2014 and 2019.

Atul Shah, a former MLA from the erstwhile Khetwadi seat, could be a potential vote-cutter and talks are currently on to make him withdraw and bolster Shaina NC’s prospects. Shaina NC’s father was the late Sheriff of Mumbai Nana Chudasama and her mother is Munira Chudasama.