Shiv Sena (UBT) releases first list of 65 candidates “by mistake”, could be corrected
Shiv Sena (UBT) unveiled 65 candidates, renominating 14 MLAs, but faced embarrassment as the list was announced "by mistake," indicating internal chaos.
MUMBAI: While the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has yet to reach a consensus on all 288 assembly seats, the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday unilaterally announced its first list of 65 candidates. Fourteen out of 15 sitting MLA have been renominated, among them Aaditya Thackeray, who will seek re-election from the Worli constituency. Piquantly, the party has fielded Kedar Dighe, a relative of Eknath Shinde’s mentor Anand Dighe, opposite the chief minister in the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in Thane.
However, the party was in for embarrassment when Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said at the press conference that the list had been released “by mistake” and would be rectified. “There will be corrections, as the list comprises some seats which were not finalised in favour of our party in the MVA’s seat-sharing negotiations,” he said.
According to insiders, seats such as Uran, Sangola and Loha were under discussion with the MVA’s partners like the Peasant and Workers Party (PWP), which had staked a claim to them, but the Sena (UBT) went ahead and announced its candidates for them. Raut’s statement underlines the chaos in the party’s functioning.
The undivided Shiv Sena had won 56 seats in the 2019 assembly elections. After the split in the party wrought by Eknath Shinde, 41 MLAs went with Shinde while only 15 MLAs remained with Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. Of these 15 sitting MLAs, only Ajay Chaudhari (Shivadi), who is also the group leader of the party in the assembly, did not find a place in the first list, as the party is also considering Sudhir Salvi’s name.
The other 14 sitting MLAs who were re-nominated are Aaditya Thackeray (Worli), Sunil Prabhu (Dindoshi), Sanjay Potnis (Kalina), Prakash Fatarpekar (Chembur), Ramesh Korgaonkar (Bhandup West), Sunil Raut (Vikhroli), Rutuja Latke (Andheri East), Vaibhav Nike (Kudal), Rajan Salvi (Rajapur), Bhaskar Jadhav (Guhagar), Kailash Patil (Osmanabad), Rahul Patil (Parbhani), Nitin Deshmukh (Balapur) and Udaysingh Rajput (Kannad). Other prominent names include Aaditya’s Thackeray’s cousin Varun Sardesai, who will contest from Vandre East. Sardesai could take on sitting MLA Zeeshan Siddique of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP.
Uddhav has also given an opportunity to former MP Rajan Vichare, who lost from Thane in the Lok Sabha elections, and Satyajit Patil (Shahuwadi) who lost the election from Hatkanangale. Amol Kirtikar, who lost by a wafer-thin margin from Mumbai North West constituency, was hoping for a ticket from Jogeshwari (East) but it went to Anant Nar.
Shankarrao Gadakh (Nevasa), who won the last election from his own Krantikari Shetkari Party and has supported Uddhav, has been given a Sena (UBT) ticket this time. Other names on the list include Sudhakar Badgujar (Nashik West), former MLA Vasant Gite (Nashik Central), Kishanchand Tanwani (Aurangabad Central), Dilip Sopal (Barshi) and Mahesh Sawant (Mahim).
The list includes the names of leaders who joined the party before and after the Lok Sabha elections with an eye on a ticket for the assembly elections. These include Unmesh Patil (Chalisgaon), Siddharth Kharat (Mehekar), Suresh Bankar (Sillod), Advay Hire (Malegaon Outer), Dipesh Mhatre (Dombivli), Snehal Jagtap (Mahad), Sanjay Kadam (Dapoli), Bal Mane (Ratnagiri), Rajan Teli (Sawantwadi) and K P Patil (Radhanagari).