The saffron alliance has once again managed to retain all three Lok Sabha seats in Thane district. Shiv Sena won the Thane and Kalyan seats by whopping margins, while the BJP won the Bhiwandi seat, which was perceived as a tough battle for the alliance.
At 12am, Thane’s Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Vichare was ahead by more than 4.10 lakh votes (compared to 2.81 lakh in 2014), Shrikant Shinde from Kalyan up by 3.42 lakh votes (compared to 2.50 lakh in 2014) whereas BJP candidate Kapil Patil won by 1.55 lakh votes (compared to 1 lakh votes in 2014).
While counting began in Thane and Kalyan at 8am, it began almost an hour late in Bhiwandi owing to glitches. In Thane and Kalyan, the Sena had a clear majority from the first round, against the NCP candidates.
Vichare got 7.40 lakh votes, while Anand Paranjpe from NCP got 3.28 lakh votes in Thane.
In Kalyan, Shrikant Shinde got 5.55 lakh votes against the 2.13 lakh votes to Babaji Patil. The Sena and BJP started celebrating since morning once it was clear that the party had a good lead.
Vichare said, “We have won by almost double the number of votes compared to the previous elections, which is a certificate of the work we have done in the constituency in the past five years. Our aim is to take up major developmental projects with respect to railways, waterfront development and smart city.”
{{/usCountry}}Vichare said, “We have won by almost double the number of votes compared to the previous elections, which is a certificate of the work we have done in the constituency in the past five years. Our aim is to take up major developmental projects with respect to railways, waterfront development and smart city.”
{{/usCountry}}The Sena’s win in Kalyan was predicted much before the elections as the NCP had fielded Babaji Patil, who is not a popular face beyond Kalwa and Mumbra. Shinde, son of PWD minister Eknath Shinde, was the sitting MP and popular among youth.
Shinde said, “It is a massive victory for me as well as the party. The support is the validity of all the work I have done for the constituency in the past five years.”
In Bhiwandi, the fight between Patil and Taware from Congress was cutthroat in the first 10 rounds. The infighting among the Congress cost the party, said observers. Patil said, “We worked hard in the constituency for the past five years and we were confident that we will win by a big margin this election. Our workers worked day and night for this victory.”