NCP Mumbai Chief Sachin Ahir Joins Shiv Sena Months Before Maharashtra Polls
Sachin Ahir, the Mumbai president of Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), joined the Shiv Sena in Mumbai on Thursday, dealing a serious blow to the NCP with Maharashtra’s assembly elections only months away.
Why Worli matters
Ahir is a former MLA from Worli and had been the Sena’s main rival there, having defeated the Shiv Sena in the seat at an earlier election. Worli lies at the heart of Mumbai’s lower-middle-class Marathi population and is currently held by the Sena’s Sunil Shinde. His departure is a major worry for local NCP leaders.
Political observers believe the Sena’s interest in Ahir may stem from its search for a safe constituency for Aditya Thackeray, president of the Yuva Sena.
Aditya Thackeray’s yatra
Thackeray is touring Maharashtra on a Jan Ashirwad Yatra, which began in Jalgaon, and Shiv Sena leaders have been presenting him as the party’s chief ministerial candidate for the polls due in October. The party says he is travelling to express gratitude to those who backed it in the parliamentary polls and ask for their blessings, while also hoping to win over those who did not.
Sources also say the Sena is pushing the 29-year-old for the deputy chief minister’s post, speculation that began after he met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Senior Sena leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde has also been mentioned for that post.
There is also unconfirmed speculation that another senior NCP leader, Chhagan Bhujbal, could switch sides before the elections.
What happened next
In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly election, the BJP won 105 of 288 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, the NCP 54 and the Congress 44. After the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance broke down, Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena became Chief Minister in November 2019 with the support of the NCP and the Congress.
See also: Nationalist Congress Party | Elections
Originally published on 25 July 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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