The Worli constituency in Mumbai is witnessing one of the high-profile fights of the Maharashtra assembly elections where Shiv Sena’s Aaditya Thackeray is leading as per early trends.
Aaditya is pitted against Bahujan Republican Socialist Party’s (BRSP) Suresh Mane, who is contesting on a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) ticket.
Worli is considered to be a stronghold of the Shiv Sena and 29-year-old Aaditya is the first member of the Thackeray family to contest polls.
In 2014 state polls, Sunil Shinde of Shiv Sena won from Worli by 23, 012 votes against Sachin Ahir of the NCP.
The contest in Worli became interesting after Sachin Ahir, Nationalist Congress Party’s Mumbai chief, defected to the Shiv Sena. The NCP then fielded Suresh Mane, a Dalit activist.
The Shiv Sena is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Aaditya wins by a huge margin. While Aaditya is promising to develop infrastructure in Worli, Mane insists Aaditya is an outsider in the constituency.
For the Thackeray family, Aaditya’s election is a break from the past. Bal Thackeray was clear about his preference for wielding the remote control to the government over a public post. Uddhav Thackeray continued that tradition when he took over the reins of the Sena in 2012, he continued that tradition.
Sena leaders had spoken of Aaditya as the party’s presumptive chief minister if the situation ever comes up but Aaditya insisted that he wasn’t “running for power”.
“This is my chance to work for Maharashtra and the country. I perceive the Chief Minister as a common man. I am also a common man,” he had said.
The BJP-Shiv Sena combine is leading in 169 seats In early trends, according to data provided by C-Voter. The Congress is ahead in just about 72 seats at 9 am.
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