India, May 2 -- The Mumbai candidates have finally been announced in the nick of time, but by all accounts the choices have been a struggle all around. In at least three of the six constituencies, the parties in the electoral fray found it difficult to pick candidates with elective merit and ended up selecting candidates for various other reasons such as the Marathi-versus-Gujarati card played by the Sena (UBT).

In Mumbai South, Yamini Jadhav was not the first preference of the ruling alliance. Both the BJP and the CM Shinde-led Sena had at least two contenders shortlisted: while the BJP had Rahul Narwekar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the Shinde camp had Milind Deora and Yashwant Jadhav. "Eknath Shinde convinced the BJP that a Sena-versus-S...