MNS to stay away from Worli seat for Aaditya?

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) released its first list of 27 candidates on Tuesday, with most top leaders out of it. Also, the party did not name any candidate

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) released its first list of 27 candidates on Tuesday, with most top leaders out of it. Also, the party did not name any candidate from Worli, where MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s nephew and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya is contesting.

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The MNS list did not figure top leaders like Bala Nandgaonkar, Nitin Sardesai and Shalini Thackeray. The only well-known names in the list are former corporator Sandeep Deshpande from Mahim seat and Thane unit chief Avinash Jadhav.

According to Sardesai, it was an organizational decision to exclude him. “The party had given me chance twice. It needs to infuse new blood and so we have a different candidate,” said Sardesai.

Sardesai, one of the top leaders, had represented the Mahim Assembly constituency from 2009 to 2014, and was narrowly defeated in 2014 polls.

The MNS in its debut 2009 election was able to win 13 seats. However, it could not maintain its tempo and plummeted to just one seat. In the recent Lok Sabha polls, it did not contest, but Raj Thackeray campaigned against the BJP-Sena, in favour of the Congress-NCP combine.