Abu Asim Azmi of the Samajwadi Occasion could possibly be headed for a win in Mumbai’s key constituency of Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, as he has taken a lead of over 375 votes as of 10:48 a.m. He has a complete of 20,432 votes within the sixth spherical of counting.
Trailing behind Azmi is Ateeque Ahmad Khan of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen with 20,057 votes.
The counting of votes on this constituency, together with different seats contested within the Maharashtra meeting elections, commenced at 8:00 a.m on Saturday.
The electoral battle in Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar was seen as a three-cornered contest between incumbent MLA and Samajwadi Occasion chief Abu Asim Azmi, Nawab Malik of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Occasion, and Suresh Patil of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
The entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen added a fourth factor to the ballot race on this Muslim-majority meeting phase. The AIMIM had issued the ticket to Ateeque Ahmad Khan.
Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, with round 3.34 lakh voters, is seen as one of many underdeveloped constituencies of Mumbai. The problems flagged by locals in the course of the electoral race included lack of infrastructure, insufficient drainage facility, erratic water provide and drug menace.
The political battle turned high-stake on this constituency because it pitted friends-turned-foes Azmi and Malik in opposition to one another. The competition additional drew media glare because the Mahayuti—the Bharatiya Janata Occasion-led ruling coalition which incorporates Ajit Pawar’s NCP—determined to not help Malik’s candidature.
Azmi’s candidature was backed by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, which is the Congress-led Opposition alliance.
The BJP-headed Mahayuti, nevertheless, fielded Suresh Patil also referred to as ‘Bullet’ Patil, as their official candidate. He was issued the ticket by Shinde’s Shiv Sena.
Regardless of not being endorsed by the Mahayuti, Malik remained within the fray. His candidature was backed by NCP chief and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Within the outgoing meeting, Malik represented the neighbouring Anushakti Nagar constituency. Nevertheless, he vacated the seat for his daughter Sana Malik on this election.
Azmi, who heads the Maharashtra unit of the Samajwadi Occasion, gained the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat in three consecutive polls—2009, 2014 and 2019. He confronted his most stringent ballot battle this time because of the entry of Malik into the fray, pollsters stated.
Notably, all 288 seats of Maharashtra had been contested in a single section on Nov. 20. The battlelines had been largely drawn between the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition bloc of Maha Vikas Aghadi, which comprised the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led faction of Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led faction of NCP.
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