Raj Thackeray's Son Amit Thackeray in Election Battle: The Maharashtra assembly election will test Shiv Sena's supremacy in Mumbai's Mahim constituency where MNS chief Raj Thackeray's son Amit Thackeray is making his electoral debut. The BJP has further complicated the triangular contest that pits Amit Thackeray, Shiv Sena's sitting MLA Sada Sarwankar, and Mahesh Sawant from the rival Shiv Sena (UBT).

Will Raj Thackeray's son win from Mahim's seat?

Despite being an ally of the Shiv Sena in the ruling Mahayuti alliance, the BJP has expressed its willingness to support the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate. According to sources, efforts are being made to persuade Sarvankar to withdraw from the electoral fray. The Mahim constituency is located in the heart of the city, stretching from Century Bazaar in Prabhadevi to Mahim Koliwada. It was in this region that the undivided Shiv Sena (1966) and then the MNS were founded in 2006.

The area also houses landmarks such as the Siddhivinayak Temple, Portuguese Church, Mahim Church, Citylight Cinema, Mahim Dargah, and the Shiv Sena (UBT) headquarters. The constituency has a large number of upper-caste voters who have traditionally been opposed to the Congress. A political observer said that although voters in Mahim have mostly been in favor of the undivided Shiv Sena in the past, the Uddhav Thackeray faction's decision to ally with the Congress as a constituent of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has upset that equation.

MNS had won this seat in the year 2009

In the 2009 assembly elections, MNS's Nitin Sardesai won from Mahim by 48,734 votes. The party's Sandeep Deshpande got 42,690 votes in 2014 and lost to Sarwankar. Sardesai lost to Sarwankar in 2019 but got 40,350 votes. An observer said that the numbers point to a support base of at least 30,000 voters for Amit Thackeray, who may benefit given the tacit support of the BJP. He said that apart from this, there is resentment against the Shiv Sena (UBT) in this constituency dominated by the Marathi-speaking population.

Against this backdrop, 32-year-old Amit Thackeray may get a chance to script the MNS' victory story here as the Eknath Shinde-led outfit has no strong base after the bitter split in the party founded by Bal Thackeray in 2022. He said today's Shiv Sena is dependent on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Mahim.

There is tremendous pressure on Sarvankar to withdraw from the election race.

Sources said Sarwankar is under tremendous pressure to withdraw from the electoral race, but he has not been affected by it yet. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is November 4. Another observer said that the BJP's support for MNS can also have a cascading effect in the neighboring constituencies of Worli and Shivadi. In Worli, there is a fight between sitting MLA and former minister Aditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) and Milind Deora of Shiv Sena.

Political observers said the BJP's move could prompt MNS supporters to support Deora in Worli as they know their candidate Sandeep Deshpande will not be able to defeat Aditya Thackeray. In Shivdi, MNS' Bala Nandgaonkar may get votes from BJP supporters, giving him a tough fight against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Ajay Chaudhary, they said. Chaudhary may also face the wrath of Shiv Sena's traditional voters.

Raj Thackeray is a resident of Mahim assembly constituency.

Mahim has 2,25,373 voters including 1,12,638 men, 1,12,657 women, and 78 third-gender voters. Raj Thackeray also hails from the Mahim assembly constituency. The Congress has some votes in this seat. The MNS chief had campaigned against the BJP during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but later changed his stance. The Congress also has some support in Mahim. Its candidate Praveen Naik got 15,246 votes in 2019.

Former MNS MLA Nitin Sardesai said it is only the media that keeps talking about BJP's support for Amit Thackeray. He said, 'There has been no official contact with us. We are campaigning extensively and we are getting a very good response.' Elections for the 288-member state assembly will be held on November 20 and the counting of votes will take place on November 23.