Elections 2014: Four LS constituencies in Thane gear up for polls

Thane (Maha): Thane district, which has four Lok Sabha constituencies, is going to polls tomorrow with 73 lakh voters expected to cast their vote to decide the fate of 67 candidates. While the maximum number of contestants are in Thane (26) the least are in Palghar (10). Kalyan and Bhiwandi have 18 and 13 candidates contesting the polls respectively. Over 8,000 polling stations have been set up in the district with around 46,649 personnel to manage the poll process. All the political parties including the Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, BJP, MNS and AAP have fielded candidates in the district. [caption id=“attachment_1490443” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of an EVM machine. AFP[/caption] It is a multi-cornered fight in Thane with as many as 26 candidates in fray, including those from MNS, AAP and Dharmarajya Party. Sitting NCP MP from Thane Sanjeev Naik, son of Maharashtra Minister Ganesh Naik, is facing tough challenge from former Thane Mayor and MLA Rajan Vichare of Shiv Sena. It is being seen as a straight battle between NCP and Shiv Sena, which is in power in the civic body. In Kalyan, sitting MP Anand Paranjpe, who quit the Sena to join NCP, is facing a fight by a new entrant Shrikant Shinde of Shiv Sena. He is the son of Thane district Sena chief Eknath Shinde, who has been camping in Kalyan to root for his son. MNS nominee Raju Patil is also in the fray and has done considerable electioneering in the region. He is the brother of sitting MLA Ramesh Patil. Bhiwandi also witnesses a triangular fight with Congress nominee Vishwanath Patil, who quit Kunbi Sena; Kapil Patil, who crossed over to BJP from the NCP and Suresh Mhatre of MNS being in the fray. Kapil Patil was the president of Thane Zilla Parishad and Thane District Central Co-operative Bank. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had launched the party’s Maharashtra campaign from Bhiwandi. Vishwanath was reportedly chosen by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and Congress had refused to give ticket to the sitting MP Suresh Tawre. In Palghar, the Congress withdrew from the fray at the last moment after unceremoniously asking its nominee Rajendra Gavit, who is a minister in the Maharashtra cabinet, to withdraw after he had filed his nomination. Congress is supporting the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) here. Sitting MP Baliram Jadhav of BVA and BJP candidate and sitting MLA Chintaman Wanga are the two main contenders here. Wanga, who had contested the Lok Sabha polls nine times and won it twice, is eyeing a third term. Ladkya Kharpade of the CPI is also in the fray. Political bigwigs, including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray and MNS chief Raj Thackeray have campaigned in the district. PTI