Mumbai: Despite securing victories in three out of the four Lok Sabha seats it contested in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) faces concerns ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections. The party’s candidates had narrow victory margins in several assembly segments held by its MLAs, including Worli, Dindoshi, and Andheri East. Worli, in particular, is a significant worry as it is the constituency of party scion Aaditya Thackeray.
In the first election following Eknath Shinde’s split from the Shiv Sena in 2022 and his subsequent appointment as Chief Minister under a BJP-led alliance, the Uddhav Thackeray faction demonstrated its continued dominance in Mumbai. The Shinde-led Sena won only one seat in the city, with a razor-thin margin of 48 votes. The Thackeray faction retained Mumbai South and captured Mumbai North East from the BJP and Mumbai South Central from the Shinde-led Sena.
However, assembly segment-wise voting data is concerning for the Thackeray camp as they prepare to face the Shinde Sena-BJP alliance in the assembly elections. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant won the Mumbai South constituency for the third time, securing 52,673 votes. He achieved a significant lead of 46,066 votes in Shinde Sena candidate and MLA Yamini Jadhav’s own assembly constituency, Byculla. In the Sewri assembly segment, represented by Shiv Sena MLA Ajay Chaudhari, Sawant led by 16,903 votes.
However, Sawant’s lead in Worli, represented by Aaditya Thackeray in the state assembly, was only 6,715 votes. Since the Uddhav Thackeray-led undivided Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP in 2019, the party has focused on targeting Aaditya Thackeray in his Worli constituency. A narrow winning margin for Sawant in the Lok Sabha elections suggests that defending Worli might be challenging for Aaditya in the assembly elections.
In the Mumbai North West constituency, Shiv Sena’s Ravindra Waikar won by a mere 48 votes against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Amol Kirtikar. This narrow defeat was a significant shock for the Thackeray faction. Kirtikar won the Jogeshwari East segment, represented by Waikar in the state assembly, but lost over 10,000 votes in Andheri East, where Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Rutuja Latke is the MLA. Additionally, Kirtikar’s margin in the Dindoshi assembly segment, represented by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Sunil Prabhu, was just 1,701 votes.
On Friday, Aaditya Thackeray held a meeting to review the Lok Sabha election results, with a particular focus on Worli. “We told him that the use of money by rivals affected the voting,” said a party leader. “The delayed projects due to legal issues also cost us, as the ruling alliance spread rumors that our party had a role in delaying the projects. After listening to all of us, Aaditya Thackeray told everyone to work with new hope and energy for the assembly elections. We have identified the issues affecting the margins and will work on them.”
