Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that for the first time in his life, he will be voting for the Congress. This time, there is a flaming torch (Shiv Sena UBT’s election symbol) in Congress's hand, he said on Friday.
Matoshree, the residence of Thackeray, is located in Kalanagar in Bandra East, which falls in Mumbai North Central constituency. Before delimitation, his home constituency was the Mumbai North-West seat.
In the seat allocation of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and Congress, Mumbai North Central constituency has been allotted to Congress, which has nominated former minister Varsha Gaikwad from this seat.
During a media interaction at Matoshree, where Gaikwad was also present, Thackeray assured her the support of his party. He said, "Varsha Gaikwad will get my vote in this Lok Sabha election. For the first time, I am going to vote for Congress' hand."
Shiv Sena's torch is now in the hands of Congress. After the results are declared, we will blow the trumpet (of the victory), he added. A man blowing the trumpet is the election symbol of the NCP (SP).
Till now, Thackeray had either voted for the Shiv Sena or BJP candidate as a result of the long-standing Shiv Sena-BJP alliance (NDA) in Maharashtra. However, after breaking ties with the BJP, Thackeray has joined the MVA alliance, which is now a part of the opposition INDIA bloc at the national level.
As per the MVA's seat-sharing formula, the Shiv Sena (UBT) will contest four seats in Mumbai - Mumbai South, Mumbai North, Mumbai South Central and Mumbai North East seats, while the Congress will fight Mumbai North and Mumbai North Central. The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) is not contesting any Mumbai seats.
From the MahaYuti, the BJP is expected to contest the Mumbai North Central seat, but it has yet to declare the candidate. BJP's incumbent MP Poonam Mahajan has won twice in 2014 and 2019 from the North Central Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency.
