Mah Poll: Multi-cornered contests in Mumbai

With big alliances torn asunder in Maharashtra, multi-cornered contests in the upcoming assembly elections, have left Mumbai voters spoilt for choice.
With less than a forthnight to go for the voting, Congress party which won 17 out of the 36 Mumbai assembly constituencies in the 2009 assembly polls is fighting a tough battle to retain its hold over the country's financial capital while the BJP is aiming to encash the "Modi wave" even as the Shiv Sena is banking on its well entrenched grassroot network to see it through the hustings.
Choice of candidates and their credentials as well as addressing the aspirations of the young voters will be among the issues which will be the focus of Congress party and the Sena-BJP.

NCP which had won three seats in 2009 assembly elections while in alliance with the Congress, is now contesting all the 36 seats.
BJP hopes a repeat of the May general election results and is projecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the face of its campaign. The BJP-Sena alliance had swept the parliamentary polls grabbing all the six seats in the city.
Shiv Sena is highlighting its President Uddhav Thackeray and his 24-year-old son Aditya. The party is projecting itself as one with a "real identity" of Maharashtra. It has put up mobile vans in different constituencies highlighting its vision document and appealing to voters to help in realising the dream of Late Bal Thackeray to unfurl the saffron flag atop Mantralaya.

Congress, through its ad campaigns has projected Prithviraj Chavan as its chief ministerial candidate.
"Congress projecting its chief ministerial candidate is not a rule but an exception this time. While the BJP not having a face to its campaign is an exception and not a rule," Congress MLC Sanjay Dutt said.
Even though the party is highlighting the infrastructure development in Mumbai as one of its achievements, the faction-ridden Mumbai Congress is a hurdle for the party to achieve its goal.