Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Worli may witness Milind Deora vs Aaditya Thackeray battle

Mumbai: The prestigious Worli seat of Mumbai is expected to witness a fierce contest between Aaditya Thackeray and Milind Deora. 

Aaditya (34), the sitting MLA, is son of former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, the now head of Shiv Sena (UBT), Milind (47) is son of late Congress loyalist Murli Deora and now a Rajya Sabha MP of Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. 

Aaditya’s name was announced earlier this week, hours before the Maha Vikas Aghadi seat sharing was announced.

While  discussions are still underway among the Maha Yuti partners involving BJP, Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Milind himself dropped hints of contesting the seat. 

Both Milind of Shiv Sena and BJP’s Shaina NC, a prominent activist and fashion designer, are keen to contest the seat. 

There has not been any official announcement so far but a very guarded post in X by Milind has taken Maharashtra politics by surprise. 

“Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ji  believes that justice for Worli and Worlikars is long overdue.  Together, we're paving the way forward and will share our vision soon, It’s Worli now,” the post reads. 

Worli is a traditional seat of the Shiv Sena. 

During the pre-poll announced outreach programme, Shinde’s son and Kalyan MP Dr Shrikant Shinde himself has travelled through the lanes and bylanes of Worli seeking support and assuring change. 

Milind, a former Lok Sabha MP from Mumbai South,  is considered close to Shinde and he accompanies the Chief Minister in important meetings with businesspersons and even travelled to Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting. 

For the last three terms, the Mumbai South is represented by Arvind Sawant, earlier from undivided Shiv Sena and now from Shiv Sena (UBT).

Milind had represented the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat in 2004 and 2009, is the son of late seven-time MP Murli Deora, known for his close association with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. 

Murli Deora had represented Mumbai South in 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1998.

Milind was a junior minister in the Dr Manmohan Singh-headed Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. 

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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