Triangular battle between Senas as Amit Thackeray poses a challenge

Since Amit who is going to make his electoral debut from the seat, the BJP leaders, including Mumbai city president Ashish Shelar and state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, on Saturday expressed that they would want ruling alliance to pledge support to Amit. However, a decision is yet to be made. Saravankar had clarified on Saturday that he will be filing his nomination papers on Monday.

Speaking to reporters in Bandra, Shelar said, “If Raj Thackeray, who has retained his stance on Hindutva and supports us… has announced his son’s candidacy, then we ought to maintain our relationship. If Amit Thackeray is contesting elections, then as Mahayuti we must support him.” Shelar added that he would discuss it with CM Shinde and his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.

The BJP Mumbai president then said he was not against ally Shiv Sena’s Mahim candidate Sada Sarvankar, but supporting Amit Thackeray “will convey a positive message to the people of Maharashtra”.

Speaking about the efforts to withdraw Saravankar from the seat, Sena leader and minister Deepak Kesarkar said on Sunday that it is the responsibility of the ruling alliance to support the candidature of Amit Thackeray. “Raj Thackeray had supported the ruling alliance without contesting a single seat in the Lok Sabha. So it is our duty to support Amit Thackeray. The talks are on with our current MLA Sada Saravankar and with due respect to Saravankar, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will solve the issue. It is our duty to support Amit Thackeray and Raj Thackeray,” he said, adding that Sada Saravankar has been given the status of Minister of State which will be continued for the next five years.

It remains to be seen whether Shinde will withdraw Sarvankar to avoid possible division of votes.

The MNS has decided to contest the Maharashtra Assembly polls alone and has already announced a list of 58 candidates.

The Marathi-dominated Mahim constituency, which spreads from Prabhadevi to Shivaji Park to Mahim, is considered significant for all the three parties, especially because of the historical Shivaji Park ground and the Maharashtrian population that resides in the area.

It was from Shivaji Park that late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray floated the party in 1966 and would address the party’s annual Dussehra rally till his demise. Later, Uddhav Thackeray has been addressing Sena workers from the iconic ground.

Raj, nephew of Bal Thackeray, also launched his party in 2006 from Shivaji Park. He organises his party’s annual Gudi padwa rally there and is also a resident of the area. While the Mahim constituency has always been the bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena, a member of the Thackeray family being the candidate during this election has made it a tough fight after the Sena split.

For two consecutive terms — in 2019 and 2014, undivided Shiv Sena’s Sada Saravankar won from the seat. In 2014, the party defeated Nitin Sardesai of the MNS, while in 2019, Sarwankar defeated Sandeep Deshpande of the MNS.

In 2009, the Shiv Sena fielded Marathi actor Aadesh Bandekar who lost to Sardesai. With a mixed demography and mix of upper class and upper caste Marathi voters as well as Muslim voters, Mahim is also home to several Marathi businessmen, cricketers, actors and writers.

In the recently held Lok Sabha elections, the MNS supported the ruling alliance and the Shiv Sena UBT trailed from Mahim by 13,990 votes. However, Sena UBT candidate Anil Desai emerged the winner and is currently an MP from Mumbai South Central.

Owing to the lead in the Mahim segment during the LS polls, the Mahim Vidhan Sabha segment seemed an easy contest for Shinde Sena’s Sada Saravankar, however, with Amit Thackeray’s entry into the battle has made it challenging. All the three parties will be relying on Marathi votes and all three will have to struggle to get a decisive lead.

Meanwhile, there are signs that Uddhav Sena will benefit from the alliance with Congress in this election. Congress also has some voters in Mahim seat. In the previous assembly elections, the Congress candidate got 15,246 votes in this area.

EARLIER FIGURES

2019 Assembly polls

Sada Saravankar (Shinde Sena) – 61,337
Sandeep Deshpande (MNS) – 42,690
Praveen Naik (Congress) – 15,246

2024 Lok Sabha polls

Rahul Shewale (Shinde Sena) – 69,488
Anil Desai (Uddhav Sena) – 55,498