Varsha Gaikwad: Congress’ Surprise Pick In Mumbai North Central (image-facebook/Varsha Gaikwad)

The nomination of Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad has caused a major rift in the party. Minister Arif Naseem claimed he was promised the seat and later, to mark his disapproval resigned as a star campaigner of the Congress.

Varsha Gaikwad, the daughter of the Eknath Gaikwad, a prominent figure in Maharashtra politics is fielded as the Congress candidate from Mumbai North central Parliamentary constituency.

Ms Varsha, the former minister in Maharashtra’s MVA government had an issue with the candidacy in the Mumbai North as she preferred to walk in the footsteps of her father and to contest from Mumbai South Central.

Varsha entered politics in 2004 when she became the MLA from Dharavi, in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. She was one of the three Dalit women to be part of the state legislature at that time. Later in the subsequent election, she won the seats. During the 2009-2010 tenure, Varsha served as the education minister of Maharashtra.

Her historic win in the constituency made her the youngest MLA from Mumbai at the time. She is a former lecturer at the Siddharth College of Arts, Science and Commerce. She had earlier handled portfolios including Medical Education, Higher and Technical Education, Tourism, Special Assistance, Women and Child Development.

Hailing from an Amedkarite-Buddhist family, she is a grass-root leader. Ms Varsha’s candidacy was critical of the seat-sharing deal Congress finalized with its alliance partners Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharad Pawar).
In the elections, Varsha’s political opponent is BJP’s Ujwal Nikam.