While the Congress made a last-ditch failed effort to swap Mumbai North with Sangli with the Thackeray Sena, the chief of Mumbai Congress Varsha Gaikwad and senior party leaders chose to move on and cooperate with the MVA partner that has declared all its candidates in Mumbai. Gaikwad was interested in contesting Mumbai South Central, but Sena (UBT) bagged it in seat-sharing. The Congress hasn’t yet for its share of two — Mumbai North and Mumbai North Central. It is said that senior Congress leaders, including Gaikwad and Bhai Jagtap, could be made candidates here.  

It seems the local Congress leaders, who enjoyed an upper hand in seat-sharing till 2019, have been made to understand (by the high command's recent moves) that their golden days are long gone, and it is the Sena (UBT) that has taken over the reins. Congress’s Lok Sabha candidates will not be able to do much in the two constituencies without UBT’s support. Ticket aspirants and repeaters of the Congress in this year's Assembly elections foresee UBT's role in fixing/tweaking the Mumbai seat-sharing formula. So, no wise leader of a weaker side will attempt to spoil relations with the Sena UBT’s top leadership and its influencers.