09 November,2024 07:07 AM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Ajay Chaudhari (UBT); Bala Nandgaonkar (MNS); Nana Ambole (ind); Amit Thackeray (MNS); Sada Sarvankar (Sena); Mahesh Sawant (UBT); Aaditya Thackeray (UBT); Milind Deora (Sena); Sandip Deshpande (MNS)
With two Shiv Senas in the fray this time round, and the MNS also eyeing a revival and contesting 27 seats, Marathi votes are likely to be split in the assembly polls. This is anticipated particularly in constituencies where all political parties have fielded Marathi-speaking candidates. In Sewri, Mahim and Worli, there are three Marathi candidates in direct contest due to the re-entry of MNS.
Out of a total of 36 seats in the city, at least 16 - or 44.4 per cent - will see Marathi candidates pitted against each other this time. Interestingly, there are six constituencies where there isn't a single Marathi candidate in the race.
Marathi-speaking voters comprise 37 per cent of Mumbai's electorate. During the Lok Sabha election, the two main contenders - the Mahayuti and MVA alliances - had sought to woo the Marathi vote bank. Out of MVA and Mahayuti's combined 12 candidates in six constituencies, 10 were Marathi-speaking contestants. Five out of those six seats were won by Marathi candidates in June, which is the highest representation of the community among city MPs so far. In 2009, they numbered at two, which rose to four Marathi MPs in the city in 2014 and 2019.
Notably, in the impending assembly polls, every constituency in the Western suburbs has at least one Marathi candidate. On the other hand, three seats in South Mumbai and three in Eastern suburbs don't have a single one. There are a total of 30 seats where at least one Marathi candidate is in the fray.
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In the last assembly elections, out of 36 constituencies 25 marathi MLAs emerged victorious across parties.
30
No. of seats with at least 1 Marathi candidate
Mumbadevi: Amin Patel (Congress) V/S Shaina NC (Sena)
Malabar Hill: Bherulal Dayalal Chaudhari (UBT) V/S Mangalprabhat Lodha (BJP)
Sion Koliwada: Ganesh Yadav (Congress) V/S Captain Tamilselvan (BJP)
Anushakti Nagar: Fahad Ahmed (SP NCP) V/S Sana Malik (AP NCP)
Mankhurd: Abu Azmi (SP) V/S Nawab Malik (AP NCP)
Mulund: Rakesh Shetty (Congress) V/S Mihir Kotecha (BJP)
