Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Amit Thackeray’s debut is not an easy sailing

Mumbai: In a place where late Balasaheb Thackeray founded the Shiv Sena for the cause of Marathi-manoos and later adopted Hindutva, his grandson Amit Thackeray is facing a stiff challenge in a triangular fight of three parties that carry forward his legacy.

Mahim has a special significance for the Shiv Sena as Shivaji Park falls in this Vidhan Sabha seat.

The Shivaji Park is associated with the Independence movement and Samyukta Maharashtra movement in which the late Prabodhankar Thackeray, the great-grandfather of Amit played a leading role.

Amit is the son of Balasaheb’s nephew Raj Thackeray, who broke away following differences with his cousin Uddhav Thackeray and formed the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

In the Mahim seat, the three main contestants are Amit Thackeray from the MNS, three-time MLA Sada Sarvankar, who is from the Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Mahesh Sawant, who has been fielded by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

Mahim is home to intellectuals, writers, actors, cricketers, sportspersons and the who’s who of the Marathi world.

It has a mix of Marathi and non-Marathi voters and there is a sizable Muslim population as well.

The legendary cartoonist-turned-politician Balasaheb Thackeray (January 23, 1926 – November 17, 2012) founded Shiv Sena on June 19,1966 and addressed the first-ever Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park on October 30, 1966. Since then, it's been a tradition. Balasaheb’s last rites were performed in Shivaji Park.

For Uddhav, Raj and Shinde, winning the Mahim seat is very important and going to be a morale booster.

“I am meeting people, reaching out to them with our vision,” said Amit, as he undertakes a door-to-door campaign.

“Amit has done a lot of homework, he is making a lot of efforts as Raj Saheb has to travel across Maharashtra,” said Dr Vaheesh Saraswat, a close aide of Raj.

The BJP leadership, including Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra BJP President Chandrashekhar Bawankule and his Mumbai counterpart Ashish Shelar, wanted Shinde to ask Sarvankar to ensure a safe seat for Amit in reciprocation of Raj’s help to the Maha Yuti (NDA) during the Lok Sabha polls. Sarvankar, however, refused to back out. He also wanted to meet Raj on the last day of withdrawal, however, the MNS chief snubbed him.

“It is not an easy run for anyone. Surely it is not a safe seat for Amit. Sarvankar is a veteran from the area and Sawant was once his close aide. Both Sarvankar and Sawant know the constituency very well. It's a clear triangular contest in the real sense of the word,” a political observer said.

Under the changed political scenario, the BJP would have to back Sarvankar as it does not want Sawant to win.

Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.

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