Ganesh Kendale
MUMBAI: Two days after ally BJP released its first list of 99 candidates for assembly polls, Sena named 45 of its nominees, including CM Eknath Shinde, late on Tuesday. All 40 MLAs who had left Uddhav Thackeray and joined hands with Shinde have got tickets, as have all his cabinet ministers.
Besides Shinde, who will fight from his home seat of Kopri Pachpakhadi in Thane, eight have been picked from MMR.No sitting MLA has been dropped, barring those who became MPs. Family members of MLAs who died have also been given tickets – accommodating a brother, a wife and a son, like BJP did. Sena is likely to fight 75-80 seats and will release its second list later this week, party functionaries said.
Industries minister Uday Samant’s brother, Kiran Samant, has been named from Rajapur, while Uday will fight from Ratnagiri. Mumbai North-West MP Ravindra Waikar’s wife, Manisha Waikar, is the party candidate from Jogeshwari East. Waikar was MLA from the constituency but became an MP in June. Former minister Sandipan Bhumre’s son, Vilas Bhumre, will fight from Paithan since Sandipan is now an MP.
In Mahim, where MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s son, Amit, will take his electoral plunge, Sena has named sitting MLA Sada Sarvankar. MNS had won the seat in 2009 but lost it to Sarvankar in 2014 and 2019. With Sena (UBT) also in the fray, the seat may see a three-way fight now. Sena has so far not named a candidate against Sena (UBT)’s Aaditya Thackeray from Worli.
Yamini Jadhav, who lost to Arvind Sawant of Sena (UBT) in the Lok Sabha polls, has been fielded from Byculla. Prakash Surve from Magathane, Dilip Lande from Chandivli, and Mangesh Kudalkar from Kurla have been renominated. While 45 candidates have been announced, Sena is yet to declare candidates for several key seats.
