The 2022 split within the Shiv Sena and the bitter feuding between the rival Sena factions led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray will be the leitmotif playing across most of the 14 Lok Sabha seats which go to polls in the fifth and final phase of the general election in the State.
Notwithstanding the rhetoric about who is the “real Sena”, the outcome will decisively determine whether Mr. Shinde or Mr. Thackeray rules the hearts and minds of the rank-and-file Shiv Sainik, and which leader is the true legatee of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
Several of the Lok Sabha seats in this phase, which are spread over Mumbai city, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Nashik district and parts of the erstwhile Khandesh province, will witness straight contests between Mr. Shinde’s Sena and Mr. Thackeray’s Sena (UBT).