Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024 | Aaditya Thackeray to Nawab Malik: Political bigwigs face off in Mumbai's battle of ballot

Mumbai: The fate of several bigwigs of Maharashtra politics and gen-next leaders including Aaditya Thackeray, Amit Thackeray, Milind Deora, Rahul Narwekar, Nawab Malik, Ashish Shelar, Sunil Raut, Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Zeeshan Siddique are among the 420 contestants in fray in 36 Vidhan Sabha seats of India’s financial capital of Mumbai. 

Majority of the contests in Mumbai are three-cornered or four-cornered and it is a high-stake battle for the two alliances involving six parties - Maha Yuti comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP and Maha Vikas Aghadi comprising Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sharad Pawar-headed NCP (SP).

The Raj Thackeray-led MNS, Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM too have candidates in Mumbai. 

While, in 2014 and 2019, the BJP-undivided Shiv Sena swept the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in Mumbai, the 2024 general elections have changed the situation. 

Three contests in Mumbai - Worli, Mahim and Bandra East - involve members of the Thackeray family.

In Worli, Uddhav’s son Aaditya, who is the sitting MLA, is taking on Murli Deora’s son sitting Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora, who has been fielded by Shiv Sena and Sandeep Deshpande, who is a close aide of Raj. Incidentally, late Murli Deora, who was close to Gandhi-family , enjoyed very good relations with the late Balasaheb Thackeray.

From Mahim, Raj’s son Amit is making a debut and he is pitted against three-time sitting Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Mahesh Sawant. The BJP leadership wanted Sarvankar to withdraw in favour of Amit to reciprocate  Raj’s decision to extend support to the MahaYuti during the Lok Sabha polls, however, Shinde seems to have ignored it. 

In Bandra West, Aaditya’s cousin Varun Sardesai is contesting from Shiv Sena (UBT) and he is taking on NCP’s Zeeshan Siddiqui while MNS has fielded former MLA Trupti Sawant. Zeeshan’s father Baba Siddique was shot dead last month.  Varun is the son of Aditya’s mother Rashmi Thackeray. 

From Bandra West, Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar is contesting against Asif Zakaria of the Congress. On the other hand, Shelar’s brother Vinod Shelar has been fielded from Malad West against sitting MLA and former minister Aslam Shaikh. 

In Chandivali, Maharashtra Congress working President Naseem Khan is contesting against Dilip Lande of Shiv Sena. In the last elections, Lande defeated Khan by a margin of 409 votes - the lowest margin in 2019.

In Dharavi, Mumbai North-Central MP and Mumbai Congress President Prof Varsha Gaikwad’s sister Jyoti Gaikwad is contesting the polls and faces Rajesh Khandare of Shiv Sena. 

In Colaba, Speaker Rahul Narwekar, who had presided over the disqualification pleas of Shiv Sena and NCP, is contesting the polls against Heera Devasi of Congress. 

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Bhairulal Jain against BJP veteran Mangal Prabhat Lodha from Malabar Hill. 

Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut’s brother and sitting Vikhroli MLA Sunil Raut is taking on Suvarna Karanje.

In Mumbadevi, the three-time Congress MLA Amin Patil is facing fashion designer Shaina NC, who has quit BJP to secure a ticket from Shiv Sena. 

In Mankhurd ShivajiNagar, NCP’s Nawab Malik is contesting against Samajwadi Party state chief and sitting MLA Abu Asim Azmi. The BJP has objected to Malik’s nomination, however, the NCP made him an official candidate instead of an Independent. Malik’s daughter Sana Malik is contesting the Anushaktinagar seat against NCP (SP)’s Fahad Ahmed, the husband of actor-activist Swara Bhaskar. 

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.

Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.