Milind Deora and Aaditya Thackeray (L-R)
Credit: PTI Photos
Mumbai: A high-profile assembly constituency with some of the most expensive properties in India, yet dotted with old 'chawls' with cramped houses screaming for redevelopment, Worli in Mumbai will witness an interesting contest between the three Senas on November 20.
Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate and former minister Aaditya Thackeray is seeking a re-election for the second time from Worli, where he is pitted against Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora (Shiv Sena) and Sandeep Deshpande (Maharashtra Navnirman Sena or MNS).
Aaditya Thackeray (34) faces a formidable challenge from Deora, a familiar face in the prestigious constituency. The former Union minister (47), who quit the Congress in January this year and joined the Shiv Sena, has represented the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat, which covers Worli, twice in the past.
As the campaign ended on Monday, Aaditya Thackeray capped his canvassing with a road show alongside his mother Rashmi. Deora, too, held a roadshow on the last day.
The constituency saw Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the ruling Shiv Sena, his Telangana counterpart A Revanth Reddy of the Congress and MNS chief Raj Thackeray seeking votes for their respective candidates.
The Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT) are part of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) along with the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
But unlike last time, the road to victory for the junior Thackeray does not look easy.
In 2019, Sachin Ahir, a former state minister and chief of the united NCP's Mumbai unit, joined the undivided Shiv Sena ahead of the assembly polls that year. Ahir had been multiple-time MLA from Worli, but faced defeat at the hands of the undivided Shiv Sena's Sunil Shinde in 2014.
In 2019, Sunil Shinde, the sitting Sena MLA, vacated the seat for Aaditya Thackeray, who made his poll debut in an election where the BJP was part of the saffron combine. The united NCP fielded a lightweight candidate, while the MNS did not field any nominee, making the contest a cakewalk for the junior Thackeray.
Aaditya Thackeray won by a margin of 62,247 votes in 2019 and went on to become a member of the cabinet headed by his father Uddhav Thackeray, who was the CM till June 2022.
However, despite the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s victory from the South Mumbai Lok Sabha seat in 2024, the Worli assembly segment saw a significant drop in lead. Party candidate Arvind Sawant led by just 6,715 votes, the lowest in four of the six assembly constituencies under Mumbai South where he dominated his Shiv Sena challenger.
The seat also has two MLCs (Sunil Shinde and Ahir).
Worli in central Mumbai is home to some of the richest Indians. It is also a commercial hub dotted with corporate offices that have developed over the last two decades.
But it is also part of the old 'girangaon' (the village of textile mills that once thrived in the area). The constituency also houses old, dilapidated chawls that need redevelopment. These include BDD chawls whose redevelopment is yet to reach its final stages.
A chawl, once a symbol of affordable housing in an expensive city, typically consists of one floor of a multi-storied building comprising tenements in a single row with a common verandah and toilets.
Worli also houses 'koliwada' (fishermen village), reflecting the middle class and lower middle class population in the constituency.
The upscale locality also faces traffic issues.
"We undertook three rounds of campaign in every ward by our youth, women and shakha pramukh (local unit head). This is a seat where we have at least 10 workers in every building, so we have personal relations with voters," Shiv Sena MLC Sunil Shinde said.
Deora was supported by Chief Minister Shinde himself.
But Aaditya Thackeray's opponents say he is inaccessible, with MNS' Deshpande also making this a poll issue.
Deshpande said his party has completed 80 per cent door-to-door campaigns which began more than six months back.
"People want change," the MNS candidate said, sounding confident about his victory.
Whether Worli reposes faith in Aaditya Thackeray or elects a new MLA will be known only on November 23 when votes will be counted.
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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