Gaikwad, who was at her aggressive best in demanding a fair share for her Mumbai unit, attended a meeting of INDIA bloc on Thursday night. Gaikwad and her party colleagues, Rajya Sabha MP Chandrakant Handore, ex-Mumbai president Bhai Jagtap and ex-MP Husain Dalwai made their presence felt with aggressive criticism of the BJP. Sena's South Central candidate Anil Desai, senior Sena leader Subhash Desai, local AAP, NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party, the CPI and RPI factions, together with Congress, formed a picture of unity and set the tone for the Opposition's campaign that will talk about the accusation that the Centre was planning to separate Mumbai from Maharashtra. Dharavi's redevelopment will also feature in the campaign, and the MVA expects Gaikwad, the local MLA, to drive it hard against Shinde Sena MP and candidate, Rahul Shewale (South Central).

In MVA, while the Congress is battling to decide two candidates, Sena (UBT) has taken a lead in the campaign. The BJP began with a bang last month in Mumbai North and North East to be much ahead of its competition there. In North Central, where the BJP has put the nomination on hold, the Congress is lagging for the same reason. Except for Shewale, no other candidate of Shinde Sena has been declared. With a month to go for voting in Mumbai, the parties have time till May 3 (the last day for the 5th phase nomination) to get us a clear picture of the battlefield.