Maharashtra Assembly polls: MNS wins one seat, but regains lost ground in six

Even as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) won only one seat (Kalyan Rural) in the state Assembly, the party managed to gain ground in six constituencies – Magathane,

Even as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) won only one seat (Kalyan Rural) in the state Assembly, the party managed to gain ground in six constituencies – Magathane, Ghatkopar East, Mahim, Shivadi, Mulund and Bhandup West – where its candidates secured the second-largest vote share. While the saffron alliance bagged all six seats, the MNS showed an average growth rate in vote share of 8% here, compared to the 2014 Assembly polls. According to experts, party chief Raj Thackeray’s aggressive stance against the ruling parties contributed to its improved performance.

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In Mulund, MNS saw a maximum jump in vote share from the 2014 polls – 11 percent. Party candidate Harshala Chavan secured 29,905 votes (19.35 percent vote share). BJP Mihir Kotecha won the seat. In the 2014 Assembly polls, MNS had trailed behind the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress in the constituency. In Ghatkopar East, MNS’s Satish Pawar got 15.59% of the vote share. In 2014, it had come in fifth. “If you see the 2014 polls, the MNS had a confused stance against the BJP-Sena, and it still continues the same trend. In 2017, the party lost its momentum in the BMC elections. If the party is really gaining ground, it can only be determined by the upcoming civic polls in 2022,” said political commentator Abay Deshpande.

Of the six seats, MNS got the maximum number of votes in Bhandup West, where its candidate Sandeep Jalgaonkar secured 42,782 votes, against Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Korgaonkar (71,955 votes). Surprisingly, in its erstwhile strongholds Mahim and Shivadi, MNS candidates did not put up a close fight. However, these also saw a considerable increase in vote share. MNS candidates Sandeep Deshpande from Mahim and Santosh Nalawade from Shivadi lost the seats to Shiv Sena’s Sada Sarvankar and Ajay Chaudhari, respectively. MNS had contested 110 seats in Maharashtra. Across the state, it received 2.25% vote share – a drop from the 3.7% in 2014.