Shinde Sena Vs Uddhav Sena: Father-Son To Fight Each Other For The Same Seat?

Uddhav Thackeray’s unilateral announcement that rival Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Kirtikar’s son Amol will be the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate for the North-west Mumbai Lok Sabha constituency has created a unique situation in the electoral arena. Uddhav’s selection has enraged, among others, Congress hopeful Sanjay Nirupam. A former saffronite, Nirupam has castigated Uddhav for giving candidature to someone “who has been under the ED scanner for corruption in a scam.” Already, there is suspense in both Sena factions as the son (Amol) has defied his father (Gajanan) by sticking with Uddhav and preparing for the Lok Sabha election. Who remains in the fight finally, father or son, is a moot question for the constituency which is a stronghold of the BJP. In the changed circumstances, seat-sharing among the three partners in the ruling alliance is being finalised after some hiccups. However, as indicated by Nirupam, the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A front also will receive a jolt as more and more candidates are announced by each constituent opposition party. This is not the first time father and son are fighting each other in the same constituency. It happened in Gujarat when Chhotu Vasava, founder of Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) filed his nomination as an independent from Jhagadia assembly seat while his son Mahesh filed as BTP candidate from the same constituency. Likewise sons of former Karnataka Chief Minister late S Bangarappa, who belong to rival parties BJP and Congress, were pitted against each other in Soraba constituency.