Mumbai: Maharashtra Assembly election is not just a battle of prestige for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Eknath Shinde faction but an acid test which will decide a ‘real’ Shiv Sena in 49 constituencies where they are locked in a direct fight.
Of the 49 seats, both are pitted against each other in 19 seats from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), 11 from Mumbai district and Mumbai Suburban, eight seats each from Marathwada and Konkan, six seats from Vidarbha and four seats each from North Maharashtra and Western Maharashtra.
The fight between both factions is important as after the rebellion Eknath Shinde-led faction succeeded in getting the Shiv Sena name and the symbol bow and arrow during the court battle.
On the other hand, Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena got the SS (UBT) name and flaming torch as an election symbol.
For both Shiv Sena factions, winning more seats, especially, in Mumbai is crucial as it will play a major role during the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation election in establishing its control.
Currently, India’s richest body (BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation) is under the administrator’s rule and it is expected that the elections will be held after the new government takes over.
Moreover, both factions are of the view that their bargaining power in the formation of a new government will increase if they win more seats from these 49 seats.
Both Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde worked hard to gain supremacy in these 49 constituencies. Thackeray approached the voters targeting Shinde for committing treachery to gain power while Shinde cornered his former boss alleging him of leaving Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva by joining hands with Congress and NCP to become the chief minister.
Thackeray fired salvos against Shinde for following BJP’s Hindutva which he alleged was fake with a sole objective to get power. On the other hand, Shinde criticised Uddhav Thackeray for joining hands with those who insult Veer Savarkar and indulge in appeasement politics.
The list of 11 seats from Mumbai where both Shiv Sena factions are taking on each other includes Prakash Surve (SS) vs Udesh Patekar (SS UBT) in Magathane, Ashok Patil (SS) vs Ramesh Korgaonkar (SS UBT) in Bhandup West, Manisha Waikar (SS) vs Anant Nar (SS UBT) in Jogeshwari East, Sanjay Nirupam (SS) vs Sunil Prabhu (SS UBT) in Dindoshi, Tukaram Kate (SS) vs Prakash Phatarpekar (SSUBT) in Chembur, Sada Sarvankar (SS) vs Mahesh Sawant (SS UBT) in Mahim, Yamini Jadhav (SS) vs Manoj Jamsutkar in Byculla, Milind Deora (SS) vs Aaditya Thackeray (SS UBT) in Worli, Suvarna Karanja (SS) vs Sunil Raut (SS UBT) in Vikhroli, Mangesh Kudalkar (SS) vs Pravina Mirajkar (SS UBT) in Kurla and Murji Patel (SS) vs Rutuja Latke (SS UBT) in Andheri East.
The list of 37 seats comprises Nilesh Rane (SS) vs Vaibhav Naik (SS UBT) in Kudal, Uday Samant (SS) vs Bal Mane (SS UBT) in Ratnagiri, Kiran Samant (SS) vs Rajan Salvi (SS UBT) in Rajapur, Deepak Kesarkar (SS) vs Rajan Teli (SS UBT) in Sawantwadi, Bharat Gogawale (SS) vs Snehal Jagtap (SS UBT) in Mahad, Yogesh Kadam (SS) vs Sanjay Kadam (SS UBT) in Dapoli, Rajesh Bendal (SS) vs Bhaskar Jadhav (SS UBT) in Guhagar, Mahendra Thorve (SS) vs Nitin Sawant (SS UBT) in Karjat, Rajendra Gavit (SS) vs Jayendra Dubla (SS UBT) in Palghar, Balaji Kinikar (SS) vs Rajesh Wankhede (SS UBT)(Ambernath), Vilas Tare (SS) vs Vishwas Walvi (SS UBT) in Boisar, Shantaram More (SS) vs Mahadev Ghatal in Bhiwandi Rural, Vishwanath Bhor (SS) vs Sachin Basre (SS UBT) in (Kalyan West), Rajesh More (SS) vs Subhash Bhoir (SS UBT) in Kalyan Rural, Pratap Sarnaik (SS) vs Naresh Manera (SS UBT) in Ovala-Majiwada and Eknath Shinde (SS) vs Kedar Digher (SS UBT) in Kopri-Pachpakhadi.
Shiv Sena nominee Sanjay Shirsat is pitted against Shiv Sena UBT candidate Raju Shinde in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar West, Pradeep Jaiswal (SS) vs Balasaheb Thorat in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Central, Anand Bharose (SS) vs Rahul Patil (SS UBT) in Parbhani, Abdul Sattar 9SS) vs Suresh Bankar (SS UBT) in Sillod, Vilas Bhumre (SS) vs Datta Gorde in Paithan, Sanjana Jadhav (SS) vs Udaysinh Rajput (SS UBT) in Kannad, Ramesh Bornare (SS) vs Dinesh Pardeshi (SS UBT) in Vaijapur, Ajit Pingale (SS) vs Kailas Patil (SS UBT) In Dharashiv, Dnyanraj Chougule (SS) vs Pravin Swami (SS UBT) in Umarga, Santosh Bangar (SS) vs Santosh Tarfe (SS UBT) in Kalamnuri, Chandrakant Sonawane (SS) vs Prabhakar Sonawane (SS UBT) in Chopda, Suhas Kande (SS) vs Ganesh Dhatrak (SS UBT) in Nandgaon, Dada Bhuse (SS) vs Adway Hire (SS UBT) In Malegaon Outer, Rajendra Raut (SS) vs Dilip Sopal (SS UBT) in Barshi, Shahaji Patil (SS) vs Deepak Salunkhe (SS UBT) in Sangola, Paksha Abitkar (SS) vs KP Patil (SS UBT) in Radhanagri, Vitthalrao Langhe (SS) vs Shankarrao Gandakh (SS UBT) in Nevasa, Sanjay Gaikwad (SS) vs Jayashree Shelke (SS UBT) in Buldhana, Sanjay Raimulkar (SS) vs Siddharth Kharat (SS UBT) in Mehkar, Baliram Shirgaokar (SS) vs Nitin Deshmukh (SS UBT) in Balapur, Ashish Jaiswal 9SS) vs Vishal Barbate (SS UBT) in Ramtek and Abhijit Adsul (SS) vs Gajanan Lavte (SS UBT) in Daryapur.
(Sanjay Jog can be contacted at sanjay.j@ians.in)
–IANS
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