Thane Election Result: BJP's Sanjay Kelkar Leads

In Thane assembly segment, Sanjay Kelkar of the BJP won the seat with a margin of 58,253 votes. He defeated sitting MLA and Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Rajan Vichare. 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.

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.

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, 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.

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 ensuing between the BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) in Thane.

The 288 assembly seats in the State went to polls in a single phase on November 20 and 66.05% voter turnout was recorded. As the ruling Mahayuti alliance hopes to continue in power, opposition Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) strives for a strong comeback.

The BJP has fielded 149 candidates, Shiv Sena (Shinde) 81, and NCP (Ajit Pawar) 59. In the opposition, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (Sharad Pawar) 86.

This assembly polls mark first one in the state after Shiv Sena and NCP split in 2022, and 2023 respectively.