Dharavi Election Results 2024: Jyoti Gaikwad of Congress Wins Against Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena Candidate Rajesh Khandare

INC's Jyoti Gaikwad has emerged victorious with 70727 votes against Eknath Shinde's candidate Rajesh Khandare, a social worker and former ally of the Gaikwad family. In the final Round 19/19, Dr. Gaikwad Jyoti Eknath of the Indian National Congress secured 70,574 votes, widening her lead over Shiv Sena’s Rajesh Khandare, who trailed with 47,165 votes, marking a substantial margin of 23,409 votes.

In the 2014 Maharashtra Dharavi Assembly elections, Congress candidate Gaikwad Varsha Eknath emerged as the winner with 47,718 votes, which accounted for 40.38% of the total valid votes. The runner-up was Baburao Mane from the Shiv Sena, who received 32,390 votes, or 27.41% of the total votes polled. 

The total number of valid votes cast was 118,160, with an electorate of 239,073. Before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the Dharavi redevelopment project, undertaken by industrialist Gautam Adani's group, had become a central issue.
The Congress repeatedly labelled the project as a "Modani enterprise", while the Shiv Sena (UBT) took to the streets to oppose it. MVA leaders also claimed recent decisions by the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government disproportionately benefit the Adani Group. During the 2019 polls in Maharashtra, Congress candidate Gaikwad Varsha Eknath won the seat after receiving 53,954 votes, while Shiv Sena candidate Ashish Vasant More stood second with 42,130 votes.