India, Jan. 11 -- Ward number 193, which falls in the constituency of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Worli MLA Aaditya Thackeray, is a prestige ward for the party. Administered for nearly five decades by CPI-M corporator Mani Shankar Kavathe, it was wrested by the undivided Sena in 1996 when the ward's reservation was changed to Scheduled Tribe, and the party brought in an outside candidate to contest. Helped along by a Koliwada Worli native, shakha pramukh Harish Worlikar, the Sena won the seat and has since had an uninterrupted 30-year run here.

This year, despite the looming uncertainty on account of intra-party rebellion, another Worlikar appears confident of emerging victorious in the polls. Harish's wife Hemangi Worlikar, who is contes...