There is intense speculation in the political circles of Maharashtra about Milind Deora contesting the elections against Uddhav’s son Aditya Thackeray. Rajya Sabha MP Deora is currently in Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena. It is being said that Shinde has decided to field him from Worli Assembly seat. Shinde’s Shiv Sena has got Worli seat from NDA.
Aditya became MLA for the first time by winning from Worli in 2019. When Shiv Sena split in 2022, Aditya was more vocal on Eknath Shinde than Uddhav. In such a situation, Shinde wants to play a big political gamble by pitting Milind against Aditya.
However, questions are also being raised in the political circles whether Milind will be able to defeat Aditya or will Aditya get a walkover if Milind enters the fray?
Milind and his political career
Milind, son of senior Congress leader Murli Deora, entered politics in 2004. Congress fielded him from Mumbai South seat. Milind reached Parliament by winning from this seat in 2004 and 2009. In 2011, Milind was made Minister of State in the Manmohan Singh government.
Milind has also been the President of Mumbai Congress and was considered close to Rahul Gandhi within the Congress. However, before the 2024 elections, Milind joined Shinde’s Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena sent him to Rajya Sabha.
Milind Deora’s performance in Worli
Milind Deora has contested Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai South in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Worli assembly seat is in Mumbai South Lok Sabha only. Leaving aside 2009, Milind Deora lost badly from Mumbai South in 2014 and 2019.
If we talk about the performance of Worli, here Milind got 39 thousand votes in 2009, 35 thousand votes in 2014 and 41 thousand votes in 2019. Except 2009, in both the elections the Shiv Sena candidate got almost double the votes than Milind.
Milind Deora could not get the ticket from Worli seat in the 2024 elections, after which he joined Eknath Shinde’s party. In 2024, Uddhav’s candidate had got a lead of 7 thousand on Worli seat. Arvind Sawant was Uddhav’s candidate from here.
Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena had fielded Yamini Jadhav from Mumbai South.
Caste equation of Worli assembly seat
According to 2019 data, there are about 2 lakh 71 thousand voters in Worli. At one time, MNS was in a very strong position here, but in 2019, due to Uddhav’s son coming into the fray, MNS did not field a candidate here.
If we talk about caste equation, there are 11 percent Dalits and 9 percent Muslims in Worli seat. Apart from this, 2.7 percent Patil, 2 percent Jadhav and 2 percent Kamble voters are in this area. All the voters of Worli belong to the urban community.
Will Milind be able to defeat Aditya Thackeray?
The discussion among Milind’s candidature is whether Milind Deora will be able to defeat Aditya Thackeray on Worli seat? Shiv Sena has lost this seat only once since 1990. In 2009, NCP’s Sachin Ahir defeated Shiv Sena’s Ashish.
When Aditya Thackeray contested from this seat in 2019, NCP’s Suresh Mane was in the fray in front of him. Aditya had won this election by 67 thousand votes.
On the other hand, Milind’s track record is bad. Milind has not been able to win any election since 2014. However, there is also a matter of relief for Milind. First, Milind is preparing to fight Shinde’s Shiv Sena. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shinde’s candidate lagged behind on this seat by only 6 thousand votes.
Second, Uddhav Thackeray has fielded a candidate from Raj Thackeray’s son on Mahim seat. It is being said that Raj can also field a candidate in front of Aditya. If this happens then the contest here can be triangular.
