Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024 | Thackeray cousins Aaditya and Amit face tough challenge

Mumbai: The Thackeray cousins Aaditya and Amit are facing tremendous challenges in fierce triangular contests in Worli and Mahim seats of Mumbai.

Aaditya and Amit are grandsons of late Balasaheb Thackeray, who founded the Shiv Sena for the cause of Marathi 'manoos' and later adopted Hindutva, and great-grandsons of legendary social reformer and writer Prabodhankar Thackeray.

The two seats are seeing an electoral battle between the three Shiv Senas.

Aaditya (34), the sitting Worli MLA and former minister, is the son of Uddhav Thackeray (64), the head of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

Amit (32) is the son of Raj Thackeray (56), the founder-president of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

Raj’s father late Shrikant Thackeray, a noted music director was the younger brother of Balasaheb Thackeray

Incidentally, Uddhav and Raj’s mothers Meenatai Thackeray and Kunda Thackeray respectively, are sisters.

Aaditya, who is a key leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) and President of Yuva Sena, is seeking a re-election from Worli. However, in the process, he faces former union minister and Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora, who has been fielded by Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sandeep Deshpande of MNS, who is a close associate of Raj. Incidentally, the Deora and Thackeray families were very close to each other.

Amit is making his debut in Mahim. Against him is a three-time sitting MLA Sada Sarvankar, fielded by Shiv Sena and Mahesh Sawant fielded by Shiv Sena (UBT).

Efforts are under way to convince Sarvankar to withdraw. Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar said that Maha Yuti should support Amit. Besides, Amit too had expressed surprise over Sarvankar being fielded, pointing out that his father had addressed rallies in support of Shinde’s son Dr Shrikant Shinde, who is an MP from Kalyan.

"Raj has supported Maha Yuti during the Lok Sabha polls and in Vidhan Sabha polls, we must reciprocate in Mahim. We are trying to convince our candidate and we would be treated with respect," said minister and Shiv Sena leader Deepak Kesarkar.

Both the Worli and Mahim seats have a sizable Marathi population and there are fears that the votes would get divided among the three Senas.

Varun Sardesai, cousin of Aaditya and Amit, to face tough fight

Varun Sardesai, who is the son of the sister of Aaditya’s mother Rashmi Thackeray, too is encountering a challenge.

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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