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Voting for four phases of Lok Sabha elections 2024 has been completed and political parties are gearing up for the fifth phase, two Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai's neighboring Thane district have become a sticking point for Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Thane is Shinde's stronghold, where he is facing direct competition from Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) candidates on both the seats.
Thane is the largest district in terms of area and population
Till a few years ago, Thane was the largest district in the country in terms of area and population. However, even after Palghar was carved out of it and created a new district, three Lok Sabha constituencies and seven municipal corporations still fall in Thane district. This has also been an old stronghold of Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena first entered politics in 1967 by contesting elections from Thane Municipality. Then it emerged as the largest party by winning 17 out of 40 seats in Thane Municipality. Later, under the leadership of veteran Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe, Shiv Sena emerged strong in Thane like Mumbai. Eknath Shinde is a disciple of Anand Dighe, who showed courage to rebel against Shiv Sena in June 2022 and became the Chief Minister of the state with the help of BJP.
Uddhav Thackeray's direct contest with Shiv Sena on Shinde's two seats
This time Shinde is directly contesting from Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena on two of the three Lok Sabha seats in Thane district. His son Dr. Shrikant Shinde has been winning from Kalyan seat since 2014. This time also he got the ticket. Against him is Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) candidate Vaishali Harkar. Who has been a councilor of Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation twice. He also contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on MNS ticket. This time she has entered the field to compete with Shrikant Shinde.
BJP captures three assembly seats
Of the six assembly seats falling under this Lok Sabha constituency, three are held by BJP, one by Shiv Sena Shinde faction and one by MNS which is now supporting NDA. Only one seat is held by Shiv Sena's (Uddhav faction) ally NCP (Sharad faction). Chief Minister Shinde has also changed many other regional equations in favor of his son. Due to this Dr. Although Shrikant Shinde is not facing any major challenge, the path is not so easy for Naresh Mhaske, the candidate of Eknath Shinde faction in Thane Lok Sabha constituency of Thane district.
Naresh Mahse entered the fray against Rajan Vishke.
Naresh Mhaske is contesting against two-time Thane MP Rajan Vishke. At the time of split in Shiv Sena in June 2022, Rajan Vikhe decided to stay with Uddhav instead of going with Eknath Shinde. Like Shinde, he also claims to be a disciple of veteran Thane Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe. Now during the elections, like other leaders of the Uddhav group, he is also seen raising slogans of loyalist and traitor. He says that there is a contest between 'traitors' and 'loyalists' in Thane. By saying this he wants to gain the sympathy of the old Shiv Sainiks.
Dr. Sanjeev Nayak wanted to contest elections on this seat
Mheske, on the other hand, saw another challenge coming from within his own alliance. Dr. Sanjeev Naik, son of senior Mumbai BJP leader Ganesh Naik and former MP, also wanted to contest from this seat. He had also started his work from Navi Mumbai, Thane to Mira-Bhinder, but in the seat distribution, this seat went in favor of Eknath Shinde and there is resentment among his supporters. In such a situation, state BJP leaders are trying to remove this resentment, because their target in this election is not one seat but Narendra Modi's slogan of 'crossing 400'.
BJP-Shinde group controls all six assembly seats.
Senior BJP leaders like BL Santosh and Vinod Tawde are meeting Ganesh Naik and his workers and trying to convince them. Its effect is also visible. Now Ganesh Naik is seen campaigning for Naresh Mahse along with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. The ground mathematics of this area is also completely in favor of Shinde faction of Shiv Sena. All the six assembly seats here are occupied by BJP and Shinde faction and as far as Uddhav Thackeray's attempt to garner sympathy from Marathas by calling Shinde a 'traitor' is concerned, Shinde is planning to take Raj Thackeray's support to counter it. Don't miss. , Shiv Sena's Shinde faction has got a big relief from Raj Thackeray's big rally held in Thane on Sunday.
