​Maharashtra assembly election: Spotlight on key constituencies amid MVA vs Mahayuti showdown​

Baramati assembly seat will see a Pawar vs Pawar showdown. After the Lok Sabha elections, the constituency is once again witnessing a high-profile contest within the Pawar family with the Sharad Pawar-led party fielding Yugendra Pawar against Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar.
Yugendra, a political debutant, is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother. The intensity of the contest can be gauged from the fact that Sharad Pawar's wife Pratibha, who generally keeps away from politics, and Supriya Sule's daughter Revati are also canvasing for Yugendra.

The fight for the Worli constituency is between the two divided factions of Shiv Sena. While Shiv Sena (UBT) has named the current MLA, Aditya Thackeray, as its candidate, Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) has nominated Milind Deora.

In the past, these factions ran as a united unit and consistently maintained a winning streak in the constituency.

Former municipal corporator Gudadhe-Patil of the Congress will take on deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in the Nagpur South-West constituency for the second time. In the 2014 assembly polls, Patil lost to Fadnavis with a margin of 60,000 votes.
While Fadnavis is fighting to retain his stronghold in Nagpur South West, Patil will hope to capitalise on anti-incumbency sentiment and economic grievances among voters.

Sakoli assembly seat will see a tense poll battle between Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole and Avinash Brahmankar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Patole earlier secured a win from the seat in 2009 and 2019.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde is pitted against Kedar Dighe of the Shiv Sena-UBT. Shinde campaigned on his developmental initiatives and his recent cinematic tribute to mentor Anand Dighe. On the other hand, Kedar Dighe, Anand Dighe’s nephew, is trying to reclaim his uncle’s legacy while criticising Shinde for betraying the original ideals of the Shiv Sena.

Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar will witness a major contest between long-time rivals Abu Azmi and Nawab Malik. Azmi, a three-time MLA from the seat, is eying a fourth consecutive term on the Samajwadi Party ticket, representing the Maha Vikas Aghadi, comprising Congress, Sharad Pawar-led NCP-SP and Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT).