14 July,2024 06:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Sameer Surve
Byculla MLA Yamini Jadhav
The Byculla and Chandivli Assembly seats may become a source of friction between Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Congress and the Shiv Sena (UBT). The grand old party's city unit has decided to demand 16 to 17 Assembly seats for its candidates. In the 2019 election, four Congress legislators were elected in Mumbai though the party contested 17 Assembly constituencies.
A Mumbai Congress leader said on the condition of anonymity that the party was planning to contest 16 to 17 Assembly seats this time. Among these are Byculla and Chandivli, which the undivided Shiv Sena won in the last Assembly poll. After the split in the party, its respective Chandivli and Byculla legislators Dilip Lande and Yamini Jadhav joined Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's faction.
Chandivli MLA Dilip Lande
"The undivided Shiv Sena won in Chandivli and Byculla in 2019. But these two constituencies traditionally belong to us," a Mumbai Congress leader told mid-day, adding, "Now these MLAs are not with Shiv Sena (UBT) and we have candidates in both constituencies." Nizamuddin Rayeen, spokesperson of the Mumbai Congress, said, "We have prepared a list of constituencies we can contest in. We will share it with our state leadership. They will discuss it in an MVA meeting."
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Will scramble for Assembly seats fracture alliances?
According to a Congress source, the party will contest the Mumbaidevi, Dharavi, Bandra East and Malad Assembly constituencies, which it currently represents in the Upper House. "We will demand Byculla, Chandivli, Ghatkopar East, Colaba, Bandra West, Kandivli, Sion Koliwada and other minority-dominated constituencies. We will not demand any constituencies where Sena (UBT) has MLAs," the source added.
In the 2019 election, 14 candidates of undivided Shiv Sena were victorious. After the split in the party, six of them joined the Shinde Sena. In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Congress contested two constituencies, winning one seat. While UBT contested four constituencies, winning three. Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Kishori Pednekar did not respond to calls by press time.
