Mumbai: As voting for the Mahim assembly seat concluded on Saturday, Mahesh Baliram Sawant of the Shiv Sena (UBT) won with 50213 votes, defeating sitting Shiv Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar by more than 1300 votes. Amit Thackeray, the son of Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), finished third with 33000 votes.
The seat was a traditional Shiv Sena stronghold when the party was undivided. Raj Thackeray, Amit's father and MNS supremo, campaigned for his son during the elections. For the record, Amit is the Thackeray family's second candidate in the Maharashtra polls, following his cousin and former Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray, the son of Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray.
The voters comprise middle and upper-middle-class Marathi families residing in areas like Mahim, Dadar and Prabhadevi. The seat is currently held by Sada Sarvankar, who was elected in the 2019 Assembly polls on an undivided Shiv Sena ticket. This is also the first election since Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena and joined the BJP.
In Mahim, it is a triangular battle between Sada Sarvankar, who has been fielded by Shiv Sena, Amit Thackeray and Mahesh Baliram Sawant, who has been fielded by the Shiv Sena (UBT). The seat is prestigious as the Shiv Sena Bhawan, the headquarters of Shiv Sena and the well-known Shivaji Park, the venue for the annual Dusara rally, comes under it.
For the record, though the BJP is part of the Mahayuti, is supporting the candidature of Amit Thackeray, as Raj Thackeray had given unconditional support to the saffron party during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
