Shiv Sena Announces Retention of Incumbent MPs, Arvind Sawant to Contest from Mumbai South

Mumbai, 28th March 2024: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut unveiled the party’s inaugural roster of 17 contenders for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday. Among them, Anil Desai is set to vie for the parliamentary seat of Mumbai South Central.

Raut disclosed that the Uddhav Thackeray-led party plans to compete in a total of 22 constituencies in the upcoming general elections, with the remaining five candidates slated for announcement shortly. He also mentioned that in Hatkanangale, farmer advocate Raju Shetti has sought the backing of the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Of the individuals revealed on Wednesday, 11 had already been introduced by party head Uddhav Thackeray during his recent visits to respective Lok Sabha constituencies over the past month.

Moreover, the party has opted to retain all five of its incumbent MPs. Arvind Sawant, the current MP, will contest from the Mumbai South constituency, while Sanjay Patil and Amol Kirtikar will stand for Mumbai North East and Mumbai North West respectively.

Rajan Vichare will seek re-election from Thane, and Vinayak Raut has been nominated for Ratnagiri Sindhudurg. The party has also reaffirmed the candidacies of sitting MPs Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani) and Omraje Nimbalkar (Osmanabad).

Aurangabad will see former MP Chandrakant Khaire as the party’s representative in the electoral fray.

A notable inclusion is wrestler Chandrahar Patil, who has been nominated from Sangli, a seat previously contested for by the Congress, an ally within the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition.

The Congress has declared its candidates for certain constituencies where there is no overlap with its alliance partners.

As a key component of the MVA in Maharashtra, the Uddhav Thackeray-led party is awaiting the official declaration of candidates by another coalition member, the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in April-May.

With regards to the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency, currently held by MP Shrikant Shinde, suspense looms over the candidate selection process.

Following the nomination of former MP Chandrakant Khaire, attention now shifts to Ambadas Danve, the leader of the Opposition in the legislative council, who was anticipating a party nomination. Speculation had arisen regarding Danve’s potential defection to the BJP or to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s party. However, Danve has refuted such claims in local media and reiterated his allegiance to Uddhav Thackeray.