Suresh Mhatre: NCP (SP) Candidate To Wrest Bhiwandi Constituency From BJP (image: instagram.com/mebalyamama)

Though Congress, an ally of the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), laid claim to the Maharashtra Bhiwandi Lok Sabha constituency in the seat-sharing talks, the latter declared the candidate for the seat. In the second list, the Sharad Pawar-led party announced Suresh Mhatre, alias Balya Mama, as their candidate for the Bhiwandi seat.

Suresh Mhatre is in charge of the NCP (SP) in the constituency. In the upcoming polls, he will lock horns with sitting BJP MP Kapil Patil. He currently serves as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj. The BJP MP is looking for a third consecutive win in the Bhiwandi constituency. In the 2019 election, Kapil Patil secured victory by defeating Congress candidate Taware Suresh Kashinath by a margin of 156329 votes. Kapil Patil belongs to the OBC community. He is the sole BJP MP from Thane, which is touted as the stronghold of the Shiv Sena.

In the 2014 elections, Suresh Mhatre contested for the first time as a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) candidate and lost. In the polls, Kapil Patil emerged as the as the winner for the first time. Mhatre joined Sharad Pawar after associating with MNS, Shiv Sena, NCP, and Shinde”s Shiv Sena. He joined the NCP (SP) in 2021.

Bhiwandi parliamentary constituency has always been dominated by the Congress and NCP until Kapil Patil began to make inroads for the BJP. The constituency came into existence in 2008 post delimitation and it comprises six assembly segments. Traditionally, Bhiwandi had comprise majorly Koli and Konkani population.