It’s Sena vs Sena battle in three out of six in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Battle lines have been drawn in six parliamentary constituencies in Mumbai, where the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit will battle it out in three seats.

While two seats will witness fights between the traditional rivals, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, in one seat, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and BJP will fight it out.

The six constituencies in Mumbai are Mumbai South, Mumbai South-Central, Mumbai North, Mumbai North-Central, Mumbai North-East, and Mumbai North-West. These are among the 13 seats in Maharashtra that will go to polls in the fifth and final phase on May 20.

Mumbai South, Mumbai South-Central and Mumbai North-West will see a fight between the two Senas, while Mumbai North-East will be a BJP versus Shiv Sena (UBT) face-off.

In Mumbai South, sitting MP Arvind Sawant of the Uddhav Thackeray will take on Yamini Jadhav of the Shinde-led Sena. Jadhav represents the Byculla assembly constituency in Mumbai.

Sena (UBT) leader Anil Desai is pitted against Rahul Shewale of the Shinde-led Sena in Mumbai South-Central. While Desai was a Rajya Sabha member until recently, Shewale is a sitting Lok Sabha member.

Amol Kirtikar of the Thackeray camp will take on Ravindra Waikar of the ruling Sena in Mumbai North-West. Waikar, who was earlier with the Sena (UBT), joined the Shinde camp recently. He currently represents Jogeshwari East assembly constituency in Mumbai.

Congress MLA Varsha Gaikwad, who is the party’s Mumbai unit president, will fight it out against noted lawyer Ujjwal Nikam fielded by the BJP in Mumbai North-Central, while Union minister and BJP veteran Piyush Goyal will take on Bhushan Patil of the Congress in Mumbai North.

While Gaikwad represents the Dharavi assembly segment in Mumbai, Goyal is a Rajya Sabha member.

In Mumbai North-East, the BJP’s Mihir Kotecha will fight against Sena UBT’s Sanjay Dina Patil. Kotecha is the MLA from Mulund assembly constituency in Mumbai.

After filing her nomination form, Gaikwad called on Uddhav Thackeray, who promised his support to her, saying she will be sent to Delhi as an MP. It will be the first time that Thackeray will vote for a Congress candidate, as his residence in Bandra comes under the Mumbai North-Central constituency.

Congress and Shiv Sena have traditionally been political opponents in Mumbai till 2019.