Heated Battle Of Three Senas In Magathane Constituency
Magathane constituency in Maharashtra, an undivided Shiv Sena stronghold, is a seat that witnessed fierce campaigning and electoral clashes between three Sena candidates in the state. Three Senas—Shiv Sena, Shiv Sena (UBT), and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)—are all set for an intense triangular fight. Since the split is Shiv Sena into Uddhav Thackrey-led faction and Eknath Shende-led group, the Sena’s votes have been disintegrated while increasing the race for political supremacy.
As a Mahayuti candidate, the Shinde-led Sena has renominated two-time sitting MLA Prakash Surve against Sena UBT candidate Udesh Patekar. Surve has been an undivided Shiv Sena’s MLA since 2014, and he has also claimed that his past work for the constituency was enough for people to re-elect him. Challenging both the alliances, the MNS has fielded Nayan Pradeep Kadam, who was notable as the runner-up in the 2019 assembly elections. MNS’s Pravin Darekar was the first MLA of Magathane since its formation in 2008.
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A seat with an equal share of slumdwellers and building residents, Magathane has several key issues, including traffic snurls and slum redevelopment, among others. While the MLA claims that he was available to them and was always connected, there are also criticisms against Surve. The MNS candidate Nayan Kadam said that the Devipada SRA project has been hanging fire since 2016-17, and at least 900 families are staying away from their own homes. He wondered what the sitting MLA was doing all these years, adding that there are few SRA projects that are stuck. “Our party has been there for people, be it those staying in SRA buildings or for Covid care in the past,” he said
Notably, during the recently Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Piyush Goyal was elected from Mumbai North, part of Magathane segment. With an unpredictable atmosphere, no party has been predicted to have the possibility for a sweeping victory in the constituency.
