Shiv Sena’s (UBT) Rajan Vichare To Retain Thane, Shinde’s Home Turf (image-facebook/Rajan Vichare)

Rajan Vichare is fielded as the Shiv Sena candidate from Thane constituency. He is the sitting MP from Thane constituency. He has also previously served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2009-2014. 

After the major split in the Shiv Sena, Rajan Vichare who has remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray did not choose to go with the Shinde faction. In this upcoming election, Rajan Vikhe will fight Shinde’s candidate on Eknath Shinde’s home ground.

As per the reports, the anxiety for the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena regarding the Thane seat is no less than a nail-biting experience. The experts claim that the challenge is not just about countering the sympathy wave for the Thachkerays who apparently could be a major concern. 

The Thane district has LS three seats of which presently, the Sena has the Kalyan seat won by Dr Shrikand Shinde to its credit while the Bhiwandi seat is held by BJP strongman Kapil Patil and Thane by UBT’s Rajan Vichare. As per the experts winning the Thane seat in the major election is considered to be a prestige issue for Sena and Shinde. 

Meanwhile, the subtle but determined advances of the BJP whose grassroots workers and leaders are silently cursing the intent to reclaim Thane may also prove to be a major hindrance. 

Thane Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies. After the delimitation, Thane Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Vidhan Sabha segments. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Baburao Vichare won by securing 7,40,969 votes. In 2014, Rajan won by securing 5,95,364 votes against NCP candidate Sanjeev Ganesh Naik.