Rajkumar Bafna, a builder and a law graduate, is contesting the Assembly polls for the first time. Bafna has been working for the Congress since 1989 and is the vice president of the South Mumbai Congress Committee.

With delimitation adding Girgaum and Kherwadi — which have been Shiv Sena’s traditional strongholds — to Malabar Hill, how do you look at the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena factor this election?
Bafna: Malabar Hill is not a Sena bastion as it is believed to be. The Congress party workers have worked hard and the party has a substantial presence in the constituency.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and your opponent from Malabar Hill, M P Lodha, has been saying that Congress will benefit from the Sena-MNS squabble as the MNS would split Marathi votes.
Bafna: Why would the Congress benefit from any party? The Congress has the credibility to win on its own and people want a stable government. Therefore they would vote for the Congress. They (voters) know the ills of voting for a regional party that favours a particular community.

Your constituency has a combination of elite and lower-middle class people. What are the key issues that you have weaved your campaign with?
Bafna:There are rich and middle class people in the constituency. They face issues like cut in water supply. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has unfortunately done very little to solve this issue. I plan to get the state government and the BMC to work on this basic issue. Another issue is the redevelopment of dilapidated buildings in Girgaum and Kherwadi. In these areas, the tenants want the dilapidated buildings to be renovated and it needs to be on a tenant-friendly basis.

... contd.