Sanjay Kelkar Faces Tough Fight In CM Shinde's Bastion Thane This Time (image:x.com/SanjayKelkar_)
The Thane constituency is one of the keenly watched constituencies in Maharashtra since it is the home city and political bastion for Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In the upcoming polls, sitting BJP MLA Sanjay Mukund Kelkar got renomination from the seat for the third time.
The assembly segment has been with the Shiv Sena (SHS) since 1990. Shinde won from the assembly constituency in 2004, and Rajan Vichare won from the seat in 2009. The BJP wrested constituency in 2014 through Sanjay Mukund Kelkar.
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In the 2014 Assembly polls, Kekar won the seat by defeating Shiv Sena (undivided) candidate Ravindra Sadanand Phatak by a margin of 12,588 votes. In the 2019 polls, Mukund retained the seat by securing 92,298 votes. He has then defeated Maharashtra Navanirman Sena (MNS) candidate Avinash Anant Jadhav by a margin of 19,424 votes.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) has announced Rajan Vichare as their nominee for Thane seat this time. Vichare has been associating with Shiv Sena since his early days. After the major split in the Shiv Sena, Vichare who has remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray chose to stay with his faction.
Vichare won the Thane Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 and 2019 elections. However, in the recently held Lok Sabha polls, Vichare lost the seat to Shinde Sena candidate Naresh Ganpat Mhaske by a margin of 2,17,011 votes. Since the influence Vichare maintains in Thane cannot be completely neglected, how it will work in his favour in the Assembly polls is something to look out for.
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As this constitutes first Assembly election after the split in Shiv Sena, maintaining a stronghold in the constituency is a prestige matter for the Mahayuti alliance. A tight competition is likely to ensue between the BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) in Thane.
The 288 Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra go to polls on November 20. The ruling Mahayuti alliance in the state consists of the BJP, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and the opposition, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprises the Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress, and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar).
