With new allies, two camps aim to bag seats undivided Shiv Sena never won

Pune: After a vertical split and changed equations that resulted in formation of two major alliances in Maharashtra politics , Maha Vikas Aghadi and Mahayuti, this assembly poll will be the first battle for the two factions of Shiv Sena . However, the two camps are facing an uphill task as several constituencies where they now aim to emerge victorious were never won by the undivided Sena. Uddhav Thackeray 's Shiv Sena (UBT) is fighting in 27 such assembly segments while the faction led by chief minister Eknath Shinde has fielded candidates in nine seats, data available with the Election Commission of India shows.

Two constituencies — Nevasa and Boisar — will see a showdown between two groups. Sena (UBT), with support from Congress and NCP (SCP), looks to expand its base to several constituencies that were most of the time contested by BJP in the Sena-BJP alliance, except for 2014 when the two saffron parties fought separately. Many senior politicians, who either joined the party before the announcement of the Nov 20 election or during the Lok Sabha poll held earlier this year, have been nominated in some of the 27 seats.



For instance, three-term MLA Anil Gote, who was earlier with BJP, has been chosen for Dhule City constituency while for Georai, the party has picked Badamrao Pandit, another three-term MLA, who was associated with the undivided NCP. Former BJP MLA and Lok Sabha MP Unmesh Patil, who switched to Sena (UBT) after he was denied a ticket for the parliamentary poll despite being the sitting MP from Jalgaon, has been nominated for Chalisgaon. Patil said party workers are, for the first time, campaigning for their own candidate and not the one nominated by the alliance.

"Besides, since NCP (SCP) is on our side, we are in a better position in the constituency this time. I also have support of many former BJP functionaries who followed suit after I left the party earlier this year, ending 14 years of association." BJP always got a lead of more than 60,000 votes during the Lok Sabha election in Chalisgaon assembly segment, but in the recently held parliamentary poll, the margin came down to 15,000 votes, he said.

Shiv Sena led by Shinde has fielded candidates such as Chandrakant Nimba Patil at Muktainagar and Manjula Gavit at Sakri, both sitting MLAs who won the 2019 assembly election as independents. Patil defeated former minister Eknath Khadse's daughter and BJP's Rohini, while Gavit trounced another BJP candidate, Mohan Suryavanshi. Political experts said BJP's strength has not diminished in the constituencies which it contested in the Sena-BJP alliance.

However, Shiv Sena is now split into two, and part of it is still with BJP. "For Sena (UBT), it is important to keep their own vote share with them and also ensure that votes of Congress and NCP (SCP) are shifted in their favour in order to win the election. If this happens, we can call it a reconstruction of politics in Maharashtra," said Prakash Pawar, professor, department of politics, Shivaji University.

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