Shiv Sena Gives Tickets To 37 Of 41 MLAs Who Backed Eknath Shinde In Rebellion, Remaining Four Hopeful For Next List

37 of the 41 MLAs who supported Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during his 2022 rebellion have been included in Shiv Sena's initial list of 45 candidates, released late on Tuesday (22 October).

Four MLAs—Vishwanath Bhoir (Kalyan West), Shantaram More (Bhiwandi Rural), Balaji Jenikar (Ambernath), and Shrinivas Vanaga (Palghar)—are not featured in this list, but they may still be included in the next round of candidate announcements.

In Mumbai, all six sitting Shinde Sena MLAs have been renominated. One of the excluded MLAs, Shrinivas Vanaga, expressed confidence that his name would appear in the next list.

Although the final seat distribution for the Mahayuti alliance is yet to be confirmed, the Shinde-led Shiv Sena is expected to contest around 80-85 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared 99 candidates.

Shinde himself will seek re-election from the Kopri-Panchpakhadi constituency in Thane, where he is anticipated to face a tough contest from the Shiv Sena (UBT), which has not yet named its candidate.

Among the notable seats is Mahim, where Sada Sarwankar has been announced as the Shinde Sena candidate, dispelling rumors of an alliance between the Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS).

The MNS is fielding Amit Thackeray, son of party chief Raj Thackeray, for the seat. Additionally, the Shinde Sena has included eight Independents and six relatives of party leaders, a pattern also seen in the BJP’s candidate selection.