Vasant More set to join Shiv Sena (UBT) ahead of Maharashtra Assembly polls

Vasant More, a 3-time corporator, met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Thursday to express his desire to join the party. He is likely to officially join the party on July 9

More, a three-time corporator, met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai on Thursday to express his desire to join the party. (File/ Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

After quitting MNS ahead of Lok Sabha polls, and contesting as candidate of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) from Pune, Vasant More switched sides again to join Shiv Sena ahead of Assembly polls. However, it is likely to trigger a tussle within the MVA alliance during Assembly elections over the Hadapsar seat.

More, who is the former city MNS chief, had parted ways with Raj Thackeray-led MNS after he was sidelined by party leadership due to what he said was local MNS leaders misleading party high command about him.

He was once a confidant of the MNS chief and was part of the party from the time of its inception by Raj Thackeray who had just left Sena. A three-time corporator, More had unsuccessfully contested Assembly elections in the past on an MNS ticket.

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After MNS showed little sign of fielding him for LS elections, More decided to quit the party and got in touch with NCP (SP), Congress and Sena (UBT) expressing a wish to contest the Pune Lok Sabha seat. He eventually contested as a VBA candidate and bagged just over 32,000 votes in LS elections.

He then met Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai and expressed his desire to join the party. “I am originally from Sena and am returning back to the party. There is nothing more I can say about the decision,” More said. He will likely officially join the party on July 9.

More had contested from Hadapsar Assembly constituency in the past as an MNS candidate, and is looking to try his luck this time as a Sena candidate from the same constituency.

The Hadapsar Assembly seat is represented by NCP legislator Chetan Tupe, who is likely to be the party candidate in the forthcoming elections, while city NCP (SP) chief Prashant Jagtap too is gearing up to contest the Assembly seat and the Congress too is likely to stake a claim on the seat. “The Congress has good strength in the constituency which was represented by party legislator Balasaheb Shivarkar in the past. So we would like to contest again,” said a Congress leader.

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For Sena, it was once the bastion when Mahadeo Babar won the Assembly seat. “We want to contest and get back the seat for the party,” said a Sena leader.

However, the NCP (SP) is confident of winning the Assembly seat after it managed to get a lead in the segment in the recent LS polls, despite the seat being represented by an NCP legislator of Ajit Pawar camp.

Ajay Jadhav

Ajay Jadhav is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, Pune. He writes on Infrastructure, Politics, Civic issues, Sustainable Development and related stuff. He is a trekker and a sports enthusiast. Ajay has written research articles on the Conservancy staff that created a nationwide impact in framing policy to improve the condition of workers handling waste. Ajay has been consistently writing on politics and infrastructure. He brought to light the lack of basic infrastructure of school and hospital in the hometown of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde even as two private helipads were developed by the leader who mostly commutes from Mumbai to Satara in helicopter. Ajay has been reporting on sustainable development initiatives that protects the environment while ensuring infrastructure development. ... Read More

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