Veteran politician Kalidas Kolambkar has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for becoming the longest-serving MLA from the same constituency and never losing an election.
He won the Wadala (and earlier Naigaon) seat — twice from the Bharatiya Janata Party, twice for Congress and five times for the Shiv Sena.
The constituency comprises largely Marathi-speaking people besides from the Gujarati and Rajasthani communities and a significant number of Muslim and Dalit community members.
Kolambkar — son of a mill worker — has never lost an election hence he is among the few legislators of India to have won nine successive times.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis felicitated Kolambkar on the occasion.
Kolambkar's father used to work with Bombay Dyeing Mills, Kolambkar, in the Shiv Sena, rose to become Gat Pramukh, Shakha Pramukh and then Corporator from Ward 42 in the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
He was first elected in Wadala (formerly Naigaon) in 1990 when he was part of the undivided Shiv Sena.
A Thackeray loyalist, Kolambkar quit Shiv Sena with Narayan Rane in 2005 and subsequently joined the Congress. He later joined the BJP.
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