MUMBAI: After hectic daylong negotiations with Congress and NCP (SP), Shiv Sena (UBT) Wednesday announced its first list of 65 candidates for the assembly polls. It has renominated 14 of its 15 sitting MLAs and declared nominees for 13 seats in Mumbai, including Aaditya Thackeray from Worli and Aaditya’s cousin Varun Sardesai from Bandra East.
While naming candidates for 12 seats in broader Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the party has fielded Kedar Dighe, nephew of the late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, from Kopri-Pachpakhadi against CM Eknath Shinde, who speaks of Anand Dighe as his mentor.
The only sitting MLA not included in the first list is Ajay Chaudhuri from Sewri.
While Varun Sardesai has been named from Bandra East though that is one of the seats on which there is a dispute between UBT Sena and Congress, Uddhav Thackeray’s party has not named candidates from other disputed seats in the city like Versova, Colaba, Byculla, Ghatkopar West and Chandivli. Some of these seats are likely to be given to Congress and NCP (SP).
However, outside Mumbai, the party has announced candidates on certain disputed seats like Ramtek, where it has fielded Vishal Barbate; Nandgaon, from where Ganesh Dhatrak will contest; Solapur South, which Amar Patil will fight, and Karjat, where Nitin Sawant has been picked. Sena (UBT) has named 7 candidates from Marathwada. No Muslim candidate appears on its first list.
In Mumbai, the party has fielded Sameer Desai from Goregaon and Anant Nar from Jogeshwari East. Amol Kirtikar, who lost Lok Sabha polls from Mumbai North West, has not been given an assembly ticket though he was said to be in the reckoning from Goregaon and Jogeshwari East.
On several seats where the sitting MLAs moved away and joined the Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde, the Sena (UBT) has given a chance to fresh faces.