Sena vs Sena to play out again in Maharashtra as Phase 5 sees contest moving to ‘Maximum City’ Mumbai

Shiv Sena split leads to intense Lok Sabha battles in Maharashtra, determining leadership and faction control.

The 2022 split within the Shiv Sena and the bitter feuding between the rival Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the leitmotif playing across most of the 14 Lok Sabha seats which go to polls in the fifth and final phase of the general election in the State.

Notwithstanding the rhetoric about who is the “real Sena”, the outcome will decisively determine whether Mr. Shinde or Mr. Thackeray rules the hearts and minds of the rank-and-file Shiv Sainik, and which leader is the true legatee of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Several of the Lok Sabha seats in this phase, which are spread over Mumbai city, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Nashik district and parts of the erstwhile Khandesh province, will witness straight contests between Mr. Shinde’s Sena and Mr. Thackeray’s Sena (UBT).

The outcome of the seven constituencies in Mumbai city also have important political ramifications in the future, as it will determine which faction controls the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) – the nerve-centre of Mumbai’s politics – where the Thackeray family has held absolute sway for two decades.

While the BJP undeniably has a robust organisational structure in most of these 14 seats, they have been forced to make concessions owing to Mr. Shinde driving a hard bargain. The Chief Minister, in order to break the image of him being labelled a “BJP puppet”, haggled with his saffron ally to get key Mumbai seats in his kitty.

However, observers feel poor candidate selection on seats like Mumbai South and Mumbai North West could badly hit the ruling Mahayuti coalition.

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