Mumbai: The Mahim constituency, the birthplace of Shiv Sena, saw an interesting battle—a three-way contest between two Shiv Senas and debutant Amit Thackeray, the son of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray. And it did not go well for Amit Thackeray.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) candidate Mahesh Baliram Sawant won, with 50,213 votes. Trailing him by only 1,316 votes was Sada Sarvankar from Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena—who secured 48,897 votes. With 33,062 votes, Amit Thackeray came third.
Mahesh Sawant, though electorally inexperienced, has networked well in the constituency, having spent decades working in the Shiv Sena’s shakha structure, climbing up the ladder from a shakha pramukh to now a vibhag pramukh, that is, a division head of multiple shakhas. His shakha experience seems to have worked out for him.
Sada Sarvankar is a three-time sitting MLA from Mahim. At the time of Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, he moved to Shinde’s side and hoped for a ticket from Mahin again.
Though the party gave him the ticket, after Raj Thackeray announced Amit Thackeray’s candidature from Mahim, there was pressure on Sarvankar to withdraw.
In a last-minute drama, he prepared to speak with Raj Thackeray on the last day of nominations, but Raj Thackeray denied him a meeting.
Mahim constituency, which has plush areas of Dadar and Prabhadevi, boasts a large chunk of the state’s Marathi population, the Sena’s core vote bank.
Sena Bhawan is at Dadar, and the iconic Shivaji Park ground is at Dadar too. So, this was a prestige battle for both the Senas.
Mahesh Sawant coming first is good news for Sena (UBT), while Shinde’s Sena will be disappointed that Sarvankar has not given it the edge it wanted in Mahim.
Amit Thackeray, who was hoping for a great debut, will have to wait for a victory till the next elections.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)