Mumbaikars are set to vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. The city occupies six of the 48 seats in Maharashtra: North Mumbai, North East Mumbai, North West Mumbai, North Central Mumbai, South Mumbai and Mumbai. South Central.
The BJP had won seats in Mumbai North, Mumbai North East and Mumbai North Central in the 2019 Indian Assembly polls. The remaining three seats were held by Shiv Sena.
However, the Sena is currently split into a group led by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and the Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray (UBT) group, while the Nationalist Congress party has a faction led by Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar.
This season, the state of Maharashtra is witnessing a close race between the Mahayuti alliance, which is made up of the BJP, Shiv Sena, and the Nationalist Congress Party, and the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, which is made up of the Indian National Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the NCP. (SP).
Let’s take a look at tomorrow’s main contestants
MUMBAI NORTH: The Bharatiya Janata Party has announced the candidature of Union Minister Piyush Goyal in its second list of 72 candidates. Goyal is making his poll debut this year and is running against Congress candidate Bhushan Patil. Senior BJP leader Gopal Shetty won from Mumbai north in 2014 and 2019.
MUMBAI SOUTH: Two-time Congress leader and UBT Sena leader Arvind Sawant is aiming for a hat-trick in this phase as he takes on Shiv Sena’s Vikra MLA Yamini Yashwant Jadhav. Mr. Sawant relied on his voice for representation in parliament, where he raised various national issues.
North Central Mumbai: Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have fielded their first candidates from the seats. Varsha Gaikwad, Congress Mumbai unit chief, will be competing against senior criminal lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. Mr. Nikam has worked on several high-profile cases in the country, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. Meanwhile, Gaikwad, 49, a four-time MLA and former minister, is a prominent Dalit leader in the city.
In the fifth phase of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, 13 constituencies in the state will go to polls.
The 13 constituencies scheduled to go to polls are Dhule, Dindori, Nashik, Kalyan, Palghar, Bhiwandi, Thane, North Mumbai, North West Mumbai, North East Mumbai, North Central Mumbai, South Central Mumbai and South Mumbai.
