Facing headwinds, will UBT's Choudhari secure a hat-trick?

SEWRI SEAT | Anti-incumbency rising against two-time legislator; stuck SRA projects, BDD chawl redevelopment upset locals; likely 2-way contest with MNS

- Megha Kuchik

Shivadi or Sewri (number 183), currently represented by Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ajay Choudhari, is a Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Mumbai city district and a part of the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat.

With around 2.7 lakh voters, it is a general category seat covering the Lalbaug, Kalachowki, Parel East, Bhoiwada and Shivadi areas. With a sizable Marathi population (65%), the other residents in the constituency are Gujaratis, Marwadis, Jains, Muslims and south Indians. The seat features a mix of and middle-class, poor upscale neighbourhoods.

Shivadi constituency came into existence in 2009 after the delimitation of the Parel seat. In 2009, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) won the seat, but it was held by Shiv Sena (undivided) for two consecutive terms; 2014 and 2019, with Choudhari, 71, winning both the polls. After the Sena split, he stayed back with Uddhav Thackeray.

In 2019, he secured 77,687 votes and defeated the MNS candidate, Santosh Nalawade, by a margin of 39,337 votes. The highlight of the poll was that a significant 4,308 voters pressed the NOTA (None Of The Above) option. Choudhari's journey started in 1972 when he was made the head of the Parel Sena subbranch and he continued on the post till 1992. From 1995 to 1999, he was incharge of the Parel sub-division before serving as South Mumbai Sena president from 2000 to 2014. In 2022, he was elected as legislative party leader.