Lok Sabha elections 2024: Shiv Sena (UBT) gets set to woo SoBo voters

Arvind Sawant along with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, party’s candidate of Mumbai North East Sanjay Patil and Mumbai North West candidate Amol Kirtikar meet 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq and leader of the Dawoodi Bohra Community Sayedna Mufaddal Saifuddin on Tuesday on the occasion of Ramzan Eid

While the National Democratic Alliance is yet to decide a candidate for South Mumbai, Shiv Sena (UBT) started community connect and meeting with the housing societies. Shiv Sena (UBT) announced Arvind Sawant, a two-time MP as candidate for the South Mumbai constituency. Sawant told mid-day that the campaign for the election is yet to start and it will gear up after nomination form is filled. "But yes I have started meeting voters, and vesting housing societies. During these meetings we discuss their issues, and demands," said Sawant.

Meanwhile, Sawant along with his party leader Aaditya Thackeray, party's candidate of Mumbai North East Sanjay Patil and Mumbai North West candidate Amol Kirtikar met 53rd al-Dai al-Mutlaq and leader of the Dawoodi Bohra Community Sayedna Mufaddal Saifuddin on Tuesday on the occasion of Ramzan Eid of Bohra Community. Sawant followed this by participation in the Gudi Padwa Shobha Yatra at Girgaon.

On the other hand, office-bearers from Shiv Sena (UBT) shakas (local party offices) have also started community connect exercises. On Thursday Kalachowkie party workers met and greeted the Muslim community for Ramadan Eid along with former corporator Sachin Padwal.

Party office-bearers from the shakhas have started taking chawl meetings in their wards. The officer-bearers of the party said, "We have started taking meetings in chawls and housing societies. We are telling voters what our MP, MLA and former corporators did for the ward and constituency. We also asked them about their issues,' he said and added that this exercise is merely preparing ground for the main campaigning.

Padwal, former corporator of Seweri said, "We have started meeting the voters with a small group of local office-bearers. This is the first stage of campaigning. Traditional campaigning including rallies of leaders, corner meetings, and padayatra will start after filing of nomination form."

According to the election commission data, in the 2019 Lok Sabha election Sawant had defeated Milind Deora then with the Congress by about one lakh votes. Sawant secured 4.21 lakh votes while Deora got 3.21 lakh votes. In the next election that took place in 2014 Sawant again defeated Deora by 1.28 lakh votes. Deora has recently joined the Shiv Sena (Shinde) group.