Sena (UBT) triumphs in Mumbai Graduates’ seat

Anil Parab. File pic

Shiv Sena (UBT) repeated its good electoral show in Mumbai, winning the city's Graduates' seat in the Legislative Council on Monday. The party's senior leader, Anil Parab, defeated BJP's Kiran Shelar, keeping the party's unbeaten streak in the graduates' constituency.

Parab polled 44,784 votes, while Shelar received 18,772.

In the Teachers' segment, Sena (UBT) candidate and former director of education, J M Abhyankar, was leading in the final counting round.

BJP's sitting MLC Niranjan Davkhare retained his Konkan seat by defeating Congress nominee Ramesh Keer. This marks his third victory from Konkan.

In the Mumbai Teachers' segment, there was a very close fight. In Nashik, Shiv Sena (Shinde) candidate Kishor Darade was leading by a small margin after the first round. Both the Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies attracted interest from the NDA and MVA partners, who reached agreements in some areas and chose to engage in friendly contests in others.

Parab's win came in a very competitive atmosphere. With most MLAs siding with Eknath Shinde, Parab's re-election from the Assembly electoral college seemed challenging. The BJP fielded a staunch RSS worker and editor of Tarun Bharat, Kiran Shelar, against Parab. For these elections, electoral rolls are created afresh each time. Previously, the BJP would have been allied with the Sena.

Parab said he had contested as an MVA candidate. "I dedicate my victory to Balasaheb Thackeray. We always say it is (Bala) Saheb's Mumbai, and we have proved it today. My party president Uddhav Thackeray, Aaditya Thackeray, and Shiv Sainiks toiled hard for my victory," he added. For the last three terms, this seat was held by Lok Bharti's Kapil Patil. Sena has been the Graduates' winner for the last three decades. In Konkan's vast constituency of five districts, Davkhare won for the third time in a row. He represented the undivided NCP from 2012 to 2018 and the BJP thereafter.