Milind Deora sweats it out to retain Mumbai South

Congress sitting MP Milind Deora faces a tough challenge to retain Mumbai South, home to some of India's rich and famous, as the Lok Sabha constituency has undergone significant changes post-delimitation and there are several contenders in the fray.

Congress sitting MP Milind Deora faces a tough challenge to retain Mumbai South, home to some of India's rich and famous, as the Lok Sabha constituency has undergone significant changes post-delimitation and there are several contenders in the fray.

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Milind, who became the youngest member to enter Lok Sabha at the age of 27 in 2004, is locked in a multi-cornered contest with Shiv Sena veteran Mohan Rawale, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate Bala Nandgaonkar, ABN-Amro Bank Country Head Meera Sanyal and BSP's Mohammad Ali. Besides these, there is a Samajwadi party candidate contesting as an Independent.

Polling is on April 30. Political observers say presence of a large number of candidates and the changed demographics of the constituency, which was the theatre of the 26/11 attacks, have kept Milind and Rawale on the tenterhooks.

Both Milind and Rawale have focussed on padyatras, door-to-door campaigning and public meetings with the hope that MNS, SP and BSP don't make a dent in their vote share. Mumbai South, the commercial hub of the metropolis, has been on terror radar for a long time.

Two of its most prestigious landmarks, Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and Air India building, were rocked by bomb blasts in March 1993. In August 2003, a powerful bomb exploded in a taxi near historic Gateway of India.