Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his mentor Anand Dighe's Anand Ashram
Credit: PTI photo
Thane: A riveting electoral battle is shaping up in Thane where Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has declared the candidature of Sena veteran late Anand Dighe's nephew Kedar Dighe against Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Notably, Shinde hails late Dighe as his political mentor, emphasising his loyalty to the ideology of Bal Thackeray while targeting his arch rival Uddhav.
Kedar Dighe, who heads the Thane district unit of Shiv Sena (UBT), will face off against Shinde in the latter's home constituency Kopri-Pachpakhadi.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday evening released its first list of 65 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections.
Former MP and Uddhav Thackeray loyalist Rajan Vichare has been fielded from the Thane assembly constituency against sitting BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar. A triangular contest is on the cards in this constituency with the MNS giving a ticket to Avinash Jadhav.
Former deputy mayor Naresh Manera is the Shiv Sena (UBT)'s pick from the Ovala-Majiwada segment in the limits of Thane city against Shinde Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.
In Kalyan Rural constituency in Thane district, Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee and former legislator Subhash Bhoir will clash swords with sitting MNS MLA Raju Patil.
CM Shinde is likely to file his nomination papers on October 28, said Thane MP Naresh Mhaske, who is overseeing the poll preparations.
Shinde has been winning from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency since 2009 as Shiv Sena (undivided) candidate.
In the 2019 polls, he defeated Sanjay Ghadigaonkar of Congress by a margin of over 89,000 votes.
Pratap Sarnaik, who sided with Shinde when the latter rebelled against Uddhav in June 2022, won the Ovala-Majiwada segment on three consecutive terms in 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
Subscribe and follow DH on Whatsapp, X, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to never miss out on anything.