As BJP backs his rival, Shiv Sena MLA Sadanand Sarvankar says won't withdraw from Mahim poll fray

Shiv Sena MLA Sadanand Sarvankar refuses to withdraw from Mumbai Mahim seat amid BJP support for rival Amit Thackeray.

Shiv Sena MLA Sadanand Sarvankar, seeking re-election from Mumbai's Mahim assembly seat, on Thursday made it clear he will not withdraw from the fray amid show of support by his party ally BJP to his rival Amit Thackeray, son of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.

"There is no question of my withdrawing from the race," Sarvankar told PTI.

Sources in the Shiv Sena, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally and key member of the ruling Mahayuti bloc, said the party was in favour of backing MNS candidate Amit Thackeray, making his electoral debut, but not at the cost of Sarvankar.

The MNS is not a part of Mahayuti, but the Raj Thackeray-led outfit had supported the ruling alliance in Maharashtra in this year's Lok Sabha elections.

The sources pointed out that of the 39 MLAs who backed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde when he led a revolt against the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, then-head of the united Shiv Sena, all have been either re-nominated or their kin have been given tickets for the November 20 assembly polls.

Sarvankar, the sitting MLA from Mahim, was one of the 39 legislators who backed Shinde during the June 2022 rebellion.

Three Shiv Sena MPs, who sided with Shinde, but were denied tickets - Bhavana Gawali, Krupal Tumane and Hemant Patil - have been rehabilitated and made MLCs.