Sena candidates lead in initial rounds

The counting of votes for the Mumbai university Senate elections started on Tuesday at the Fort Campus with Shiv Sena candidates leading in the initial rounds.

The counting of votes for the Mumbai university Senate elections started on Tuesday at the Fort Campus with Shiv Sena candidates leading in the initial rounds.

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The election which were conducted on Sunday polled a decent forty percent votes due to the aggressive campaign by all the main parties.

The election assumed significance as Aditya Thackeray who was anointed the chief of the Yuva Sena by his grandfather Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray is facing his first electoral battle. Aditya had personally monitored the entire campaign and also sent off letters seeking support from the electorate.

Similarly, the Congress party which is on back foot this time around fielded just three candidates and have entered into a secret alliance with the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and Swabhimaan, the NGO floated by revenue minister Narayan Rane. But the Congress had denied any such alliance and said it is fighting on its own strength, a charge refuted by the Sena. The Senate assumes importance since it takes decisions regarding academic matters of both the university and its affiliated colleges.