Shalini Thakare in Mumbai. Picture by Gajanan Dudhalkar

She has north Indian origins, but she is among 12 candidates fielded by Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Shalini Thakare (as in her affidavit) may spell her name differently from the anglicised Thackeray, but when Mumbai goes to polls on Thursday, she would become the first from the Thackeray political clan to contest an election.

Thakare, 40, is contesting from Mumbai North West — traditionally represented by the Congress’s late Sunil Dutt and now by his daughter Priya. Delimitation has pushed Priya to adjoining Mumbai North Central.

Thakare is pitted against some of Mumbai’s seasoned politicians: the Congress’s Gurudas Kamat, Shiv Sena’s Gajanan Kirtikar and the Samajwadi Party’s Abu Asim Azmi.

Neither Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who formed the aggressive party in the sixties, nor his son and successor Uddhav Thackeray has entered the election arena. Nor has Uddhav’s cousin Raj, who headed the Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena and then formed the MNS in 2006.

As a result, Thakare, who is married to Raj’s cousin Jeetendra, has unwittingly become the first person from the political family to contest an election. Jeetendra’s grandfather Damodar was the younger brother of Bal Thackeray’s father Keshav.

She does not want to make too much of that, though. “Rajsaheb has not given me the ticket because of the surname. He felt that in this constituency a professional like me would work better,” says Thakare.

Thakare, who completed her BCom from Podar College in Mumbai and her MBA from Massachusetts, US, belongs to a Punjabi business family. “There has been no politician in my family but my grandfather Bhagat Ram Talwar was the right-hand man of Subhash Chandra Bose,” she claims.

Husband Jeetendra is her campaign manager, and a dedicated bunch of young MNS workers move around with her, distributing Raj Thackeray’s personalised appeal explaining his stand against migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Does a professional like her support the MNS stand?

“I have north Indian roots, but I am essentially a Mumbaikar and completely support Rajsaheb’s campaign,” Thakare says. “The influx of migrants has deeply affected Mumbai’s basic infrastructure while governments in UP and Bihar are doing nothing for them in their home states.

“Where do you think hundreds affected by the Kosi river crisis are going to head to next? And why should people already living in Mumbai take the burden,” Thakare says.

But, does a professional like her support MNS political violence? “The violence was media projected. There was a clash between Samajwadi Party workers and MNS when SP made provocative statements, but it was limited to Dadar and never spread all over Mumbai. When Rajsaheb was arrested, it was an emotional outpouring of his supporters who felt that he was being unjustly arrested,” she says.

The MNS campaign is one of the central themes of the political campaign in Mumbai North West where the Samajwadi’s Abu Azmi is banking on north Indian and Muslim votes while Gurudas Kamat is hoping they will choose the Congress’ secular, “Mumbai for everyone” agenda.

Azmi was arrested along with Raj Thackeray for making provocative statements in February 2008 when the MNS chief chose Amitabh Bachchan as the target for his campaign, and is hoping in to cash in on the fear among north Indian migrants.

Thakare says she is largely banking on the support of the Marathi votes influenced by the MNS campaign, and of voters who are tired of run-of-the-mill politicians and could choose a professional like her.

“There are about 16 lakh voters in Mumbai North West of which six lakh are Marathi, and three lakh are Muslim. The rest belongs to different communities. People are tired of being treated as votebanks, and I hope to get their support,” she says.

For Thakare, who worked as the party vice-president setting up the MNS structure, the political legacy of her surname helps her connect easily with the Maharashtrian voters, and Raj Thackeray’s aggressive campaign meetings do the rest.

“I don’t really have to say much. My campaign is not high profile, but relies on meeting small groups of people. Being known as Rajsaheb’s candidate is enough,” she says as she prepares for another round of padyatras, meetings that would go on till 10pm.

Mumbai votes on April 30