Can Prashant Thakur Secure Fourth Term Beating Balaram Patil In Panvel?
“I have always maintained a strong connection with my constituents; I meet people regularly, listen to their grievances, and work to resolve them,” The Free Press Journal quotes BJP leader and sitting MLA Prashant Ramsheth Thakur, who is vying for his fourth consecutive term from the Panvel assembly constituency.
Pitted against the three-term MLA is the senior Peasants and Workers Party of India (PWPI) leader Balaram Dattatrey Patil as an MVA candidate. Though there were some tussles regarding the alliance initially, Patil was reported to have met Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray before filing his papers from the constituency.
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A former Congress leader, who debuted on the grand old party’s ticket from Panvel in the 2009 assembly elections, Thakur joined the BJP ahead of the 2014 elections. During the 2014 assembly elections, the MLA contested as a BJP candidate and retained the seat. During the 2019 elections, Thakur managed to increase his vote share from 44 percent to 59 percent.
As the heat of the 2024 poll to elect 288 assembly members intensifies, Thakur has been campaigning hard, eyeing a fourth consecutive term. However, the re-entry of Balaram Patil, who in 2014 gave a tough battle against Thakur, has made the race more stiff.
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During the 2014 elections, Patil had polled 111,927 votes while the MLA secured 125,142 votes. Moreover, though there have been developmental works credited to the sitting MLA who has been representing the seat for over a decade, including better connectivity and improvement in education and health care infrastructure, there have been allegations that the MLA failed to solve basic concerns such as water supply and waste management in the region.
With the MVA’s determined 60-year-old senior leader of PWPI, Balaram Patil, another re-election for Thakur from Panvel would not be a cakewalk, especially given the possible anti-incumbency. Assuring commitment, Patil has declared that he has given his word to the people of his constituency, who have faith in him, that he will not let their faith break.
