Raj Thackeray fields son Amit from Mahim constituency

MNS announced 45 candidates for assembly elections, including Raj Thackeray's son Amit from Mahim, aiming to challenge Aaditya Thackeray's seat.

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday announced 45 candidates who will be fielded for the forthcoming assembly elections. It includes party chief Raj Thackeray’s son Amit, who will contest from central Mumbai’s Mahim constituency.

Raj Thackeray fields son Amit from Mahim constituency

Amit, 32, has been an active party worker for the last four years. He will be the second member from the Thackeray family to enter the political fray, after his cousin Aaditya Thackeray, son of Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. Aaditya won the assembly election from the Worli constituency in 2019.

The constituency encompasses the swathe from Prabhadevi to Shivaji Park to Mahim, which houses Sena Bhavan, headquarters of Shiv Sena (UBT).

As Mahim was once represented by MNS leader Nitin Sardesai (2009 to 2014), the party feels it will be a safe bet for Amit. The party had earlier considered other options such as Nashik, Magathane and Bhandup for Amit, but finally settled on Mahim.

Amit will face Shinde-led Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar, who was renominated on Tuesday from Mahim. Shiv Sena (UBT) is yet to decide its candidate for the seat. Shiv Sena (UBT) is yet the decide its candidate for the seat.

Although MNS has not forged an alliance with the Mahayuti, there is possibility of an understanding between the party and the ruling coalition for some seats. HT has learnt that Mahayuti may leave a few seats for MNS.

Meanwhile, the party has renominated its only sitting MLA Raju Patil from Kalyan rural. It has given a ticket to former corporator Sandeep Deshpande from Worli against Sena (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray. From Bhandup West, the party has named Shirish Sawant and from Thane city, Avinash Jadhav. Nayan Kadam has been named from Magathane and Kunal Mainkar from Borivali.

The present development comes after a Sunday morning meeting between Raj Thackeray, and BJP and Shiv Sena leaders. In the meeting, decks were cleared for Amit, Sandeep Deshpande and Bala Nandgaonkar for Mahim, Worli and Sewri respectively, in order to make it a tough battle for Aaditya Thackeray.

In the Lok Sabha polls, the Sena (UBT) numbers in the Worli assembly segment were majorly compromised. In the polls, MNS had given an unconditional support to the Mahayuti.

In 2009, the MNS had 13 MLAs and the party got just one seat in 2014 and 2019 assembly polls.

Former MNS MLA Nitin Sardesai said, “The youth must come into politics; I have seen Amit grow under Raj saheb’s grooming. Apart from this, Amit has toured the state on his own as well. It is nice to see that the next generation of Thackerays in electoral politics.’’

MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said, “Since a Thackeray family member is contesting from Mahim, my appeal to CM Shinde, and deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar is not to field a candidate opposite Amit. In 2019, when Aadiya had contested from Worli, Raj Thackeray did not field a candidate from the constituency.”