It’s been five months, and the anger hasn’t gone away. Will it translate into a new voting pattern in a city capable of forgetting tragedies quickly?

In her posh Marine Drive home, barely a kilometre from where her son and daughter-in-law died at the Oberoi, 75-year-old Sarla Parekh explains why the terrorist attacks must move electors famous for their political indifference.

Parekh, who backed a post-attack PIL in the Bombay High Court seeking better security and has set up with her friends a forum called ‘Citizens Take Charge’, has been telling Mumbai-South’s Rotarians, chartered accountants and businessmen why it is important to vote. “I tell people we’ve failed by not voting,” Parekh says. But she is convinced things will be different this time.

Former commissioner of Mumbai Police Julio Ribeiro — who is also on the board of ‘Citizens Take Charge’ — agrees, predicting that the class that has traditionally never voted “will come out in large numbers” to demand better protection from terrorism.

But the professional politicians don’t think so. And it is significant that none of the candidates has offered a new argument on security.

For Shiv Sena’s Mohan Rawle, the only non-Congress/NCP sitting MP in Mumbai, the Sena’s promise of 80 per cent reservation in jobs for locals could be the deciding factor. MLA Bala Nandgaonkar, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena candidate, explains Mumbai-South is no longer the elite constituency it once was. The addition of the Shivdi and Worli Assembly segments has meant over 5 lakh new voters, all from the erstwhile Girangaon textile hub.

Congress’s US- educated Milind Deora faces Rawle in a “Malabar Hill-versus-Marathi manoos” clash. Mumbai-South’s new areas are largely dominated by the Shiv Sena’s brand of politics. Deora, whose main agenda has been infrastructure and central funds for Mumbai, says attempts to label 26/11 an attack on South Mumbai are “typical of the Sena, to regionalise issues”.

Deora does not deny his voters are outraged with the failures 26/11 showed up. “People are definitely upset. But they are upset with politicians in general, not just with the Congress.”

Yet, discernible this time is a refreshing move to shake off Mumbai-South’s political lethargy. Banker Meera Sanyal decided to contest mainly due to the 26/11 attacks, during which her friend and one-time colleague Ashok Kapur of Yes Bank was killed.

Mumbai South, Maharashtra

Candidates

• Milind Deora, Congress

• Mohan Rawle, shiv sena

• MLA Bala Nandgaonkar, MNS

• Mohammed Ali Shaikh, BSP

BACK STORY

2004 Milind Deora, Cong

1999 Jaywantiben Mehta, BJP

1998 Murli Deora, Cong

1996 Jaywantiben Mehta, BJP

1991 Murli Deora, Cong