Lok Sabha elections 2024: Fight for formidable four

Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde filed his nomination on May 2. Pic/Sameer Markande

The Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Palghar Lok Sabha constituencies, which are part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, will see the Maha Vikas Aghadi and Mahayuti butting heads. The Thane seat, once considered a Matoshree stronghold, mainly comprises the urban area of Thane district - the base of the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar while the Bhiwandi and Palghar constituencies include urban and rural parts of the Thane and Palghar districts and the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat comprises urban and semi-urban areas.

It will be challenging for Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray to make inroads into the Thane and Palghar districts as most former corporators and MLAs from these areas sided with the Shinde faction after the split in the Shiv Sena.

Thane

Political landscape
This constituency will see a direct fight play out between Thackeray and Shinde whose respective blue-eyed boys, Rajan Vichare and Naresh Mhaske, are vying for power.

The Thane Lok Sabha constituency comprises six Vidhan Sabha segments, most of which are represented by Shiv Sena and BJP legislators. Shinde and fellow Sainik Pratap Sarnaik are the MLAs of Kopri-Pachpakhadi and Ovala-Majiwada respectively while the Thane, Airoli and Belapur segments are represented by BJP's Sanjay Kelkar, Ganesh and Manda Mhatre. Geeta Jain, an Independent who is supporting the Shinde Sena, is the Mira Bhayandar MLA.

Previous victors
Vichare has been the incumbent since the 2014 general election where he defeated Sanjeev Naik, a former NCP MP, by 2.81 lakh votes. In 2019, he secured 7.40 lakh votes, besting NCP's Anand Paranjpe, whose tally was 4.12 lakh votes.

Constituency and concerns
While Navi Mumbai is renowned as a planned city, Thane and Mira Bhayandar are plagued by illegal constructions and hawkers as well as transport, water supply and solid waste management issues. Navi Mumbai facing issues such as encroachment and lacks a proper internal transport system.

Rajan Vichare, Shiv Sena (UBT)
A former mayor and MLA, the two-time MP became the face of the Thackeray faction in Thane following the split in the party. Vichare started his political career alongside Shinde under the leadership of the late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 3.73 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 26 crore

Naresh Mhaske, Shiv Sena
A former mayor of Thane and two-time corporator, Mhaske is known as the blue-eyed boy of Shinde. He is the Thane district head of the party. The post, once occupied by Dighe and Shinde, is among the most prestigious ones in the Shiv Sena. He is also a spokesperson for the Shinde faction.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 10.26 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 21.08 crore

Kalyan

Political landscape
Dr Shrikant Shinde, the chief minister's son and a two-time MP, is contesting this seat for the third consecutive time. Now, he is up against former corporator Vaishali Darekar of the Shiv Sena (UBT).

Initially, it seemed that, apart from the Opposition, Mahayuti ally, the BJP, was not in favour of Shrikant Shinde as BJP MLA Ganpat Gaikwad opened fire on Shiv Sena city head Mahesh Gaikwad inside a police station earlier this year.

Of the six Assembly seats here, four are with the Mahayuti. MNS's Pramod Patil is MLA of the Kalyan Rural segment. Mumbra Kalwa MLA Jitendra Awhad belongs to the NCP (SP). The Ulhasnagar, Kalyan East and Dombivli segments are represented by BJP's Kumar Ailani, Ganpat Gaikwad and Ravindra Chavan. As the party holds sway in the constituency, party workers had demanded that its candidate be fielded from here. However, it was Shinde who was picked as the Mahayuti candidate.

Previous victors
Since the formation of the constituency in 2009, Shiv Sena won it thrice. In 2014, Dr Shinde defeated former Shiv Sena MP Anand Paranjpe, who was contesting on an NCP ticket. Dr Shinde got 4.40 lakh votes as opposed to Paranjape's 1.90 lakh. In 2019, Dr Shinde defeated Babaji Patil, the NCP by 3.44 lakh votes.
Constituency and concerns

Kalyan, which comprises urban and semi-urban areas, mainly faces issues involving water supply, solid waste management, illegal construction and sanitation. Public transport is problematic while Kalyan and Dombivli are plagued by traffic congestion. Citizens also mainly depend on Mumbai and Thane for medical treatment.

Dr Shrikant Shinde, Shiv Sena
Dr Shinde is seen as the educated face of the Shiv Sena. The two-time MP is well-connected to Delhi circles as well as high-ranking government officials in Maharashtra. He started taking participating heavily in the party's internal politics after the split.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 8.15 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 6.77 crore

Vaishali Darekar, Shiv Sena (UBT)
The two-time Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation councillor was elected as a corporator for the first time in 2005. She later joined the MNS and was elected as its corporator in 2010. She also contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election as the MNS's candidate. She secured 1.02 lakh votes. Recently, she is known for taking an aggressive stance against the chief minister.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 1.18 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 5.06 crore

Bhiwandi

Political landscape
Once a famous textile hub, Bhiwandi is now emerging a prominent chemical and goods transport hub. This constituency has been dominated by BJP for a decade with its two-time MP, and Union minister, Kapil Patil, being fielded yet again. The seat was mainly associated with the Congress, but the NCP (SP) gained it during seat sharing. The grand old party's workers are still upset about this.

Five out of six MLAs representing Bhiwandi's Assembly segments belong to the Mahayuti. One seat, Bhiwandi East, is held by the Samajwadi Party.

Previous victors
This constituency first existed as a parliamentary seat from 1962 to 1971. Congress was dominant then. It came into existence again in 2009. Suresh Taware of the Congress won the general election that year against BJP's Jagannath Patil. In the next two Lok Sabha polls, Kapil Patil defeated Congress's Vishwanath Patil and Taware by 1.1 lakh votes and 1.56 lakh votes respectively.

Constituency and concerns
Bhiwandi lacks adequate medical infrastructure and internal public transport. Apart from the proliferation of illegal constructions, air pollution due to chemical plants, obtaining drinking water and sanitation are challenges. Bhiwandi is at the crossroads between North and Western Maharashtra and Gujarat, making it an ideal goods transport junction. But due to ill planning, advantage isn't being taken of its location.

Kapil Patil, BJP
The Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj had jumped to the BJP from the NCP in 2014. He was chairman of the Thane district co-operative bank. He also had a stint as the president of the Thane zilla parishad.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 8.74 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 28.27 crore

Suresh Mhatre, NCP (SP)
Popularly referred to as Balya Mama, this leader is known for party hopping. He began his political career in the Shiv Sena. He was elected as a zilla parishad member. In 2014, he contested the Lok Sabha election on an MNS ticket, securing 93,000 votes. Later, he won the zilla parishad election again. He demanded a Congress ticket for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Though NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar supported him, the grand old party denied him one. He then joined NCP, working as the party's district president. After the split in the Shiv Sena, Mhatre joined the Shinde-led faction before finally becoming an NCP (SP) member.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 60.42 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 46.62 crore

Palghar

Political landscape
This geographically diverse district was formed in 2014 after being separated from the Thane district. It includes the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation. The Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi (BVA) holds sway over the seat, which was part of the Mumbai North constituency before 2009. Three of the seat's six MLAs belong to the BVA: party president Hitendra Thakur, his son Kshitij Thakur and Rajesh Patil.

In 2018, Rajendra Gavit, the tribal development minister in the then-Congress-NCP government, joined the BJP and contested a Lok Sabha by-poll necessitated by the death of the BJP MP Chintaman Vanaga, who came to power in 2014. The next year, undivided Shiv Sena got this seat and Gavit contested as its candidate and won the election.

Previous victors
In 2014, Vanaga defeated BVA's Baliram Jadhav. The former secured 5.33 lakh votes while the latter got 2.93 lakh. After Vanaga's death, Gavit secured 2.72 lakh votes in the by-poll. Vanaga's son Shrinivas contested the election as the Shiv Sena candidate as the BJP denied him a ticket. In 2019, Gavit contested the election as Shiv Sena candidate and secured 5.15 lakh votes while his rival, Baliram Jadhav of the BVA, secured 4.91 lakh votes.

Constituency and concerns
The Palghar district has water and public transport issues. The water problem is more severe in the eastern part. There is opposition to the two projects, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project and the Vadhavan Port. Although there is diversity such as beaches and forests, adequate tourist facilities have not been developed. Declining fisherman income is another big problem.

Bharti Kamdi, Shiv Sena (UBT)
After losing the first Palghar Municipal Council election in 1999, she was elected twice as a member of the Palghar zilla parishad. She worked as president of the organisation for more than a year. After the Sena split, she supported Thackeray.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 51 lakh
Immovable assets: NIL

Dr Hemant Savara, BJP
The son of former minister Vishnu Savara, he fought his first Vidhan Sabha election from Vikramgad constituency in 2019 but was defeated.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 3.67 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 4 crore

Rajesh Patil, BVA
The Boisar MLA, who is contesting on Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi ticket is considered the educated face of the rural party headed by Hitendra Thakur.

Declared wealth
Movable assets: Rs 2.88 crore
Immovable assets: Rs 7.51 crore