After Sachin Ahir’s entry in Shiv Sena, will Aaditya Thackeray contest Maharashtra assembly elections from Worli?

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There is a buzz doing rounds for quite some time now, that Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya could contest upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections from Worli. With the induction of Mumbai Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sachin Ahir into the Shiv Sena on Thursday, Shiv Sena could clear the decks for Aaditya Thackeray to take a political plunge from party’s stronghold area, Worli.

Party insiders told that Ahir’s entry would help the Shiv Sena if Aaditya chooses the Worli Assembly segment to contest, as this means there is “no opponent” left for the Sena in the constituency. A three-time legislator, Ahir represented the Worli seat between 2009 and 2014. It is currently held by Shiv Sena’s Sunil Shinde, who defeated Ahir in the 2014 election. The Worli assembly has a mix of Marathi population as well as upper-middle-class voters, who may be tapped easily by Aaditya. The Shiv Sena is looking at Worli or Sewri, which are Sena strongholds, for Aaditya’s entry into electoral politics.

According to political pundits, Sena’s move was likely prompted by the party’s need to look for a safe seat for Yuva Sena President Aditya Thackeray who is currently on a statewide Jan Ashirwad Yatra. Soon after joining the Sena, Ahir announced that he would contest the election from Byculla in south Mumbai.

Ahir said, “Aaditya and I always used to interact, we used to criticise each other but we used to talk also on some common agenda but we never thought of getting together. Then we met, he (Aaditya) said, ‘This is the common agenda, why not work together?’”. “We were in talks for the past few days and now it’s happening. I had arranged a meeting between Uddhav ji and Sachin ji and today he is joining our party,” Aditya said.

Ashish Chemburkar, Sena’s vibhag pramukh or divisional head of south-central Mumbai told, “Shiv Sena has a strong presence in Worli. We have corporators in the Assembly segment. Today with Ahir coming to Sena, there is no opponent before us. If Aadityaji contests from Worli, it is a matter of happiness; it shows the level of trust in us and our workers.”

Ahir yesterday said he will work for the expansion of Shiv Sena’s base, but will not try to break the NCP. “Sharad Pawar will be in my heart. But I will have Aaditya and Uddhavji’s strength in my body to work for the Shiv Sena,” he said. Ahir said he has no grudge against the NCP. “But some unavoidable political decisions had to be taken considering the prevailing situation,” he said.

Ahir said a couple of days back, he met Aaditya Thackeray at a social event where the latter told him that the Shiv Sena needed leaders like him, who were “well-versed in urban politics”. “The Shiv Sena is in power in most of the municipal corporations in the state. I can use my expertise gained as a minister for the development of cities. Hence, I took the decision to work for the development of cities by being in power,” he said.