Milind Deora Likely to Challenge Aaditya Thackeray in Assembly Polls

Mumbai: Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is likely to field its leader and Rajya Sabha member Milind Deora from the Worli Assembly constituency against Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray. There will be a triangular fight in the Worli Assembly constituency as Raj Thackeray’s MNS has fielded former corporator Sandeep Deshpande here.

Mr. Deora, who is a Rajya Sabha member, hinted that he may contest from Worli. In a post on social media X, he said that justice is long overdue for citizens of Worli.

Aditya Thackeray, who is an incumbent Worli legislator, filed his nomination on Thursday. The Worli constituency is dominated by Marathi people, especially from the Koli community (fishermen). However, Deora can pose a serious challenge to Aaditya as it is part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat, which was once considered a stronghold of the Deoras. Deshpande can dent Aaditya’s Marathi votes.

Earlier this year, Milind Deora had left Congress party and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. He was unopposed and elected to the upper house of the Parliament. Following this, he wanted to contest from South Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency. but CM Shinde had picked Yamini Jadhav, who was defeated by Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant.

Milind Deora had been entrusted with the responsibility of handling the Worli constituency during the Lok Sabha polls by the CM. The Shiv Sena (UBT) MP had a lead of 6,715 votes in the Worli assembly segment, which was far less than Aaditya’s lead of 67,4725 votes in the 2019 Assembly election.

In a post on X, Mr. Deora said, “Chief Minister @mieknathshinde ji believes that justice for #Worli & Worlikars is long overdue. Together, we're paving the way forward & will share our vision soon. It’s Worli NOW! (sic).”

The political observers said that Milind Deora is likely to have an edge in this constituency as his image is secular and may get attracted by a small pocket of Christian voters as well. Apart from this, the Marathi-speaking voters can be divided into the MNS candidate and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate.