Mumbai: Aaditya Thackeray, son of former Maharashtra CM and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, has won re-election from the Worli assembly seat, defeating Milind Deora of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena by 8,801 votes.
Thackeray received a total of 63,324 votes, compared to Deora’s 54,523. Sandeep Deshpande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was in third place with 19,367 votes.
Worli was one of the most high-profile battlegrounds in the Maharashtra assembly polls, and Deora was chosen to contest from this high-profile constituency because Shinde did not want Aaditya to have a cakewalk, according to sources in the Shiv Sena.
Thackeray had won by over 65,000 votes against his nearest rival in the 2019 Maharashtra elections—a year when the MNS decided to stay away from contesting the constituency. The Shiv Sena was then undivided. This year, his margin has narrowed dramatically.
In terms of demographics, the Worli constituency has a mix of Kolis (fishermen community), Marathis and Gujaratis.
On one side of Worli are an upscale market and skyscrapers, while elsewhere there are sprawling BDD chawls. The latter are now under redevelopment, a project kicked off during the rule of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).
One of the election talking points in this constituency was the Mahalaxmi racecourse, which the ruling Mahayuti wants to redevelop as a new central park in Mumbai. Thackeray opposed the idea, accusing the government of selling Mumbai’s open space to the real estate lobby.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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