Mahayuti faces challenge on Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat, BJP opposes candidature of NCP's Nawab Malik

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 29 : A new challenge has emerged in front of the Mahayuti alliance after the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) fielded Nawab Malik as its candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, a seat that is already with the while Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya pushing the case of Shiv Sena's Suresj Krishna Patil as the 'official' candidate on the same seat.
Somaiya posted on X and said that Mahayuti's official candidate for the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar seat is Suresh Krishna Patil (Bullet Patil).
"Mahayuti (Shivsena) official candidate from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar is Bullet Patil. We will fight to defeat candidates supporting Vote Jihad, Terrorism," BJP's Kirti Somaiya said.
Nawab Malik on Tuesday filed his nomination from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency as an NCP (Ajit Pawar) candidate for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections.
After filing the nomination, Nawab Malik told ANI, "Today, I filed a nomination from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Vidhan Sabha constituency as an NCP candidate. I had filed the form as an Independent candidate also. But the party has sent the AB form and we submitted it at 2.55 pm and now I am the official candidate of NCP."
Notably, the fight in the Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar assembly seat is that of the Muslim vote as the seat has been held by Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi.
The NCP leader expressed gratitude to the NCP leadership for confiding in him.
"I am very thankful to (Deputy Chief Minister) Ajit Pawar, NCP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Praful Patel, and NCP leader Sunil Tatkare. They have confidence in me (to win the elections)...A huge number of voters will support me...I am very confident that this time we will win the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar constituency," he added.
Nawab Malik, a two-time MLA from Anushakti Nagar, had earlier in the month announced that he would contest from the Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar Assembly constituency as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the NCP due to pressure by the Mahayuti ally BJP.
Sana Malik, daughter of Nawab Malik is contesting from the Anushakti Nagar assembly seat as an NCP candidate (Ajit Pawar).
The Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled for November 20, with counting for all 288 constituencies set for November 23.
In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.