Sitting MLA Baba Siddique could gain if Marathi votes are divided with Sena and MNS entering the fray. Despite his visibility, BJP’s Shelar is looking at a hard battle this time.The Bandra West assembly segment, traditionally a Congress bastion, could throw up a surprise like it did when its voters ousted Priya Dutt in favour of BJP candidate Poonam Mahajan in the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.Though the constituency has sizeable Catholic and Muslim populations, Marathis are the majority community here - a factor that BJP candidate and city party chief Aashish Shelar feels he could exploit to his benefit in the election on October 15.Over the last five years, the picture here has been changing gradually and the anti-incumbency feeling against sitting Congress legislator Baba Siddique has been increasing. Shelar, who lost in the 2009 assembly elections by a narrow margin of 1,691 votes to Siddique, sees it as a positive sign.The Congress’s traditional voters -- Catholics from upscale Bandra neighbourhoods, residents of gaothans and Muslims - have been steadily leaning t towards Shelar, whose style of functioning as a corporator and BJP city chief have helped him establish himself in the constituency as a good public representative.Locals said Siddique, who has represented Bandra West for 15 years, has not kept in touch with voters except for certain sections, while Shelar is getting good response during his padyatras, but has been unable to reach out to the Muslim voters.Recently, Shelar started a free insurance scheme for women under which Muslim women are the biggest beneficiaries. However, women in the constituency say this is not their basic need. “We need amenities like water supply, better roads and sanitation in the slum pockets to live comfortably,” said Hamida Sayyad from Bazaar Road.Shelar said voters are with him and victory will be his. “I have worked as corporator for two terms in the constituency and completed various civic works. I improved services in the area during my tenures as corporator. In the last two years, I spent my MLC fund for various developmental works in the area,” said Shelar, who also claims to be the only representative who is accessible to all voters.However, behind the bluster, Shelar knows this time it won’t be easy for him especially after his party’s split with the Sena. Stacked against him, besides Siddique, are Shiv Sena’s Vilas Chavari from the Koli community, Tushar Aphale of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and NCP’s Asif Bhamla. In 2009, the alliance ensured Sena votes went to Shelar while MNS did not field a candidate. This time, votes garnered by Sena and MNS candidates are expected to divide Shelar’s Marathi votebank.Chavari, though, dismissed Poonam Mahajan’s victory as a fallout of the Modi wave. “There is no such wave now,” says the Sena candidate. Shane Cardoz, an Independent candidate from the East Indian community is also in the fray and could eat into the Catholic and Koli votes. Though citizen groups are looking for a change and supporting Shelar, the hurdles are many. “In the last 15 years, encroachments and illegal constructions have gone up and the local MLA could not do anything to prevent it," said Anil Joseph, a citizen activist and chairman of the Perry Road Residents’ Association.As vote banks look set to fracture, Siddique stands to gain. “In 2009, my constituency limits were redrawn under the delimitation exercise, due to which the margin of victory was very small. “People voted for BJP in May, but inflation is still high and black money has not come back. They will not be fooled again, as is evident from the bypolls. I don’t consider Shelar as my competitor, I am fighting with Chavari,” said Siddique.