Mumbai Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: CM Shinde Manages To Hold Thane Fort

Even as Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his Shiv Sena suffered a setback in its biggest electoral test since the split with Uddhav Thackeray, he is set to win big in his pocket borough of Thane.

At the time of going to the press, the Shinde Sena candidates had posted an insurmountable lead of more than two lakh votes over the rivals from the Thackeray faction in each of Kalyan and Thane constituencies. The CM’s son Shrikant Shinde managed to retain Kalyan for a third time, fending off a challenge from former municipal corporator Vaishali Darekar-Rane, though his victory margin has shrunk from 3.44 lakh recorded in 2019 general elections. Shinde’s close aide Naresh Mhaske wrested the Thane seat from the incumbent MP Rajan Vichare, denying him a third term.

Meanwhile, Bhiwandi, the third seat in the district, saw NCP Sharad Pawar’s Suresh Mhatre en route to defeating the sitting MP from BJP and union minister of state for Panchayati Raj Kapil Patil in a triangular contest. For the large part of the day, Mhatre maintained a clear lead over his opponent and, at the time of going to the press, he was comfortably ahead by more than 66,000 votes.

The Kalyan seat had a rather slow start to the vote-counting process. The setting up of counting stations and consolidation of round-wise results. “We are declaring the results in a deliberative manner. We are verifying booth-wise data to ensure there’s no mistake,” said Sushma Satpute, returning officer for the constituency.

The Shiv Sena’s confidence about winning the seat was evident from the congratulatory banners that had sprung up in the area since the morning. After it was clear that he would make a hat trick, a visibly emotional Shrikant Shinde told media persons, “I thank all the voters, party leaders and workers. This is a result of their efforts in the last two months. I am happy that people have made me victorious with such a huge margin.”

In Thane, Mhaske said that his victory is an affirmation of the Shinde Sena’s claim to the legacy of Anand Dighe, the late Shiv Sena leader from the city. “You can’t change the Thane-Eknath Shinde equation,” he quipped, adding, “I am a mere party worker but Eknath Shinde made me an MP in 12 days. Even Dighe would increase the stature of regular people. Thane people have shown who is the real heir of Dighe,” he said.

At the counting centre in Thane, Mhaske’s supporters celebrated by applying gulal, raising slogans and posing for cameras. Pramod Gogavale, a Shiv Sena functionary from the city, was full of praise for the CM. “Shinde saheb has brought development funds and works for the city. The unconquerable Thane fort was erected by Dighe saheb and Shinde has protected it. We see the image of Dighe in Shinde. He always looks after the party cadre and is present on the ground,” he said.

In contrast, polling agents from Shiv Sena (UBT) stepped out of the facility dejected. However, when asked about the defeat, Yuva Sena Thane president Kiran Jadhav put up a brave face. “Winning and losing is part of life. Most of the municipal corporators, MLAs and other political leaders in Thane are aligned with Shinde. Despite the odds against us, we fought and managed to bring down the margin of victory from last year,” he said.