Filing nominations for 5th phase to start today, Mahayuti yet to decide on 7 seats

Among the 13 seats that will go to polls in the fifth phase are are six seats from Mumbai and three from Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

Filing of the nominations will start from Friday and will end on May 3 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is May 6.

For the Mumbai South seat, there are at least three front runners from the ruling alliance:  BJP MLA and Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, state minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Shiv Sena’s Milind Deora.

In Mumbai North West, the Shiv Sena has not been able to announce a name while the BJP is facing a similar trouble in finding a candidate in Mumbai North Central.

Similar tussle is there in alliance for the Thane seat where BJP’s Sanjiv Naik and Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik are in the race.

While in Nashik, Sena’s sitting MP Hemant Godse is vying for the seat and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP is also staking claim on the seat.

In Kalyan seat, even as Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that Shrikant Shinde, the sitting MP and son of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, will be ruling alliance’s candidate, the official announcement has not taken place yet.

In Palghar too, both Sena and BJP have staked their claim on contesting the seat.

While the sitting Sena MP Rajendra Gavit is likely to be re-nominated from the ruling alliance, the BJP is demanding that Gavit should contest the polls on a BJP ticket.

The Sena is, however, wary to give up the seat.

According to Sena insiders, the BJP has been staking claim on Thane seat as well citing negative survey and has been insisting that the seat should be with the BJP. But Thane being the bastion of CM Shinde, he is also reluctant to give up the seat.

“We have many candidates for these seven seats and we will soon announce our official candidates. We are contemplating on the candidates considering the winnability factor and the best ones will become the official candidates” a senior leader from the ruling alliance said.