Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: MVA locks Mumbai seats

The Maha Vikas Aghadi's seat-sharing for Mumbai's 36 seats is almost final, with Shiv Sena (UBT) getting more than the Congress share. There are a couple of seats yet to be decided, but the leaders in the know said that it would be sorted out in a couple of days.

According to a senior Congress leader and former minister, the Sena was certain to get about 20 seats, and the Congress 12. The Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar) will get two and the Samajwadi Party one. The tussle continued for the Byculla and Versova constituencies. Both Congress and Sena want them.

On Thursday, the Sena also announced its candidate for Bandra East, who managed to vacate the seat from Congress, which it had won in 2019 but relinquished due to the Sena's insistence on fielding its youth leader and party chief's close relative, Varun Sardesai. Sitting MLA Zeeshan Siddique, who shifted sides recently, will lock horns with Sardesai.

MVA leaders during the press conference in Mumbai last week. Pic/Satej Shinde

Even as they discussed sharing, the Sena and Congress were yet to reach an agreement over Byculla and Versova, said the leader. The two major parties will be fighting it out against the BJP and Shiv Sena (Shinde), who will be sharing the Mumbai seats in Mahayuti, with a minor share for NCP (Ajit Pawar). Both alliances are in the final stages of seat-sharing talks as the filing of nominations will begin on October 22 for the polling scheduled on November 20.

Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray met his MLAs on Thursday. It was his first engagement after he was discharged from the hospital. It was reliably learnt that the Sena (UBT) will get Worli, Shivdi, Magathane, Dindoshi, Jogeshwari East, Andheri East, Bandra East, Ghatkopar West, Kalina, Vile Parle, Mahim, Borivli, Dahisar, Goregaon, Malabar Hill, Bhandup, Vikroli, Kurla and Chembur. If Congress agrees, the Sena will end up getting Byculla, which it wants anyhow considering the traction the segment gave it in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress is understood to have in its kitty the constituencies such as Dharavi (SC), Mumbaidevi, Malad, Colaba, Bandra West, Sion-Koliwada, Chandivli, Charkop, Wadala, Mulund, Andheri West and Kandivli East. One of the senior Congress MLAs is lobbying hard for Versoa, where he plans to field his son-in-law as a party candidate. Former IPS officer Sanjay Pandey is also one of the contenders from the Congress camp.

Sharad Pawar's NCP is expected to get Ghatkopar East and Anushakti Nagar. Samajwadi Party will retain Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar where it has an MLA.