Today, a fight is raging among political parties over the distribution of tickets for the Maharashtra Assembly elections, with all the equations being kept in mind while allocating tickets. Amidst all this, the state has its place as the place where three forces – Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena UBT and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena – face each other. We are talking about Mahim seat in central Mumbai, where Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray’s son Amit Thackeray is stationed .
Amit will be the third person from the Thackeray family to contest the election. His father, MNS chief Raj Thackeray, never contested any election. With the announcement of Amit Thackeray’s name, a triangular contest has emerged in Mahim constituency. With another new generation Thackeray joining the electoral fray, MNS appears to be facing Mahesh Sawant in Shinde Sena and Mahesh in Uddhav Sena ·A tough challenge for Mahesh Sawant.
When Raj did not field a candidate against Aditya Thackeray
Aditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and cousin of Amit, won the Worli seat adjacent to Mahim in the 2019 assembly elections. After becoming the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray himself was elected to the Legislative Council in 2020. Both Shiv Sena UBT and Shinde Shiv Sena fielded their candidates against Amit Thackeray, while Raj Thackeray gave unconditional support to Aaditya Thackeray during the 2019 elections.
Also read: Maharashtra elections: MNS releases third list, announces 13 candidates
Amit says – People will decide the future
However, Amit Thackeray said he is not worried about his opponents as the opportunity to contest was given to him by his father and the people will decide his fate. He said no one can work alone and there should be competition. Moreover, senior MNS leader and candidate Bala Nandgaonkar from Sewri assembly constituency said that Raj Thackeray is a man with a big heart. He said that there is no such person in today’s politics, Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have announced their candidates, we have taken a decision, now let the people decide.
(Amit Thackeray and father Raj Thackeray)
Mahim is the stronghold of Shiv Sena – Raut
UBT Sena MP and leader Sanjay Raut clarified that the Dadar-Mahim seat has always been a Shiv Sena stronghold. Therefore, there is no question of not contesting the seat. UBT spokesperson Anand Dubey said the broad-minded Raj Thackeray had always compromised with his candidates in previous elections.
Let’s take a look at the voting situation in Dadar-Mahim constituency in the last assembly elections:
2009
-Nitin Sardesai of MNS – 48,734
– Sardar K. Saravanka Congress – 39,808
– Adesh Bandekar for Shiv Sena – 36,364
2014
-Shiv Sena’s Sada Saravankar – 46,291
-Nitin Sardesai of MNS – 40,350
– Vilas Ambedkar of BJP – 33,446
Also read: Maharashtra elections: Uddhav Thackeray hands over vote to his nephew, whom Eknath Shinde considers to be his political mentor.
2019
-Shiv Sena’s Sada Saravankar – 61,337
– Sandeep Deshpande of MNS – 42,690
– Praveen Naik, MP – 15,246
Interestingly, the MNS has won only once in 2009, when sitting Shiv Sena MLA Sada Saravankar joined the Congress and split the Marathi vote bank, where MNS’s Nitin Sardesai won.
