Lok Sabha elections 2024: Thane — Know your constituency and candidates

Thane known as the city of lakes is a rapidly urbanising region. It needs better infrastructure to keep up with its burgeoning population.


The Thane Lok Sabha constituency is one of the fastest urbanising belts taking in the spilloffs of Mumbai’s growth. The constituency includes the Navi Mumbai, Mira-Bhayender, Thane city, Owala-Majiwada and Kopri-Pachpakhadi.

The meteoric rise of the legislator from the Kopri Pach-Pakhadi constituency, Eknath Shinde as the chief minister has suddenly brought sharp focus on this area. Shinde has been taking a personal interest in Thane and has been fast-tracking developmental projects in this locality.

Thane has undergone a major metamorphosis from being a green jungle to a concrete residential jungle with promenades coming up alongside rivers. Public transportation is a huge concern as it has failed to keep up with the rapid rise in population. 

Constituency Map

Thane constituency map
Thane constituency spreads over Belapur, Airoli, thane city, Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Ovala Majiwada, and Mira Bhayandar. Pic: Opencity

At a glance- Thane Constituency

Constituency NameThane
Number of voters (2024)25,07,372
Male voters13,48,163
Female voters11,59,002
Other voters207
Source: ceoelection.maharashtra.gov.in

Find your polling booth:

Use your EPIC number in the voter id cards to find the booth information here.

Candidates contesting in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde, The incumbent MP from this constituency is Rajan Vichare of the Shiv Sena (UBT). You can read about his tenure here.

Candidates for 2024
Rajan Vichare, 62
Shiv Sena (UBT)
Education: Class XI
Pending criminal cases: 6

Total assets: Rs 29,72,79,258
Liabilities: Rs 4,18, 99,116
Click here for affidavit
Naresh Mhaske, 54
Shivsena (Eknath Shinde)
Education: Class XII
Pending criminal cases: 2

Total assets: Rs 26,26,02,215
Liabilities: Rs 4,60,63,890
Click here for affidavit
Mallikarjun Pujari, 53
Independent
Education: Class VIII
Pending criminal cases: 2

Total assets: Rs 60,01,100
Liabilities: Rs 47,50,000
Click here for affidavit
Vijay Ghate, 55
Republican Bahujan Sena
Education: Class V
Pending criminal cases: 5

Total assets: Rs 2,42,75,000
Liabilities: Rs 13,19,993
Click here for affidavit
Salima Muktar Vasani, 48
Bahujan Maha Party
Education: Class X
Pending criminal cases: Nil 

Total assets: Rs 61,41,000
Liabilities: Nil
Click here for affidavit
Rajendra Sankhe, 59
Bharatiya Jawan Kisan Party
Education: Post-Graduation
Pending criminal cases: Nil

Total assets: Rs 3,17,69,606
Liabilities: Rs 63,09,823
Click here for affidavit
Rahul Meharoliya, 39
Bahujan Republican Socialist Party
Education: Class V
Pending criminal cases: Nil

Total assets: Rs1,70,000
Liabilities: Nil 
Click here for affidavit
Adv Gurudev Narsingh Suryawanshi, 37
Independent
Education: Graduate Professional
Pending criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs. 2,20,000 
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Archana Dinkar Gaikwad, 32
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal Cases: 0

Total Assets: Rs. Rs 2,32,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Bhanwarlal Khetmal Mehta, 66
Hindu Samaj Party
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal cases: 0

Total Assets: Rs. Rs 2,85,45,600
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Chandrakant Vitthal Sonawane, 39
Independent
Education: Graduate, Professional
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs. 53,611
Liabilities: Rs 93,880
Click here for affidavit
Dr. Piyush K. Saxena, 64
Independent 
Education: Doctorate
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs. 12,28,68,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Irfan Ibrahim Shaikh, 45
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 17,93,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Jha Subhash Chandra, 54
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Party
Education: Graduate
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 1,51,20,000
Liabilities: Rs 11,00,000
Click here for affidavit
Khajasab Rasulsab Mulla, 47
Independent
Education: Graduate
Criminal Cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 25,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Mukesh Kailasnath Tiwari, 40
Bhim Sena
Education: 8th Pass
Criminal Cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 40,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Pramod Anandrao Dhumal, 49
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal Cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 70,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Rajiv Kondiba Bhosale, 38
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal Cases: 0

Total Assets: Rs 57,02,444
Liabilities: Rs 5,84,000
Click here for affidavit
Sanjay Manohar More, 42
Independent
Education: Govt. Diploma in Art
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 28,051
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Santosh Bhikaji Bhalerao, 46
Bahujan Samaj Party
Education: Post Graduate
Criminal cases: 0

Total Assets: Rs 2,15,35,752
Liabilities: Rs 17,96,622
Click here for affidavit
Sawale Dattatray Sitaram, 41
Independent
Education: 8th Pass
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 20,000
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Siddhant Chhaban Shirsat, 31
Independent
Education: 12th Pass
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 4,51,091
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Surendrakumar K. Jain, 56
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 1,30,95,527
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Uttam Kisanrao Tirpude, 56
Independent
Education: 10th Pass
Criminal cases: Nil

Total Assets: Rs 1,30,95,527
Liabilities: 0
Click here for affidavit
Vijay Dnyanoba Ghate, 55
Republican Bahujan Sena
Education: 8th Pass
Criminal Cases: 5

Total Assets: Rs. 2,42,75,000
Liabilities: Rs. 13,19,993
Click here for affidavit
Source: myneta.info and eci.gov.in

Additional information

Out of 43 candidate applications, 31 have been accepted, and 11 rejected. Out of these, 24 are contesting, and 1 person has withdrawn their candidacy. (source: Election Commission of India)

Rajan Vichare

Rajan Vichare is a seasoned politician associated with the Shiv Sena since 1985. He was said to be close to Shiv Sea leader Anand Dighe. He has been elected as the MP from Thane twice.

  • Profession: salaried employee and business
  • Political experience: Rajan Vichare became the Mayor of the Thane Municipal Corporation in 2006. In 2009 he won a seat in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. He won his first term as an MP from Thane in 2014 and then in 2019. This is his third bid at this parliamentary seat.
  • Cases: 6 cases are pending against him as per the affidavit he has submitted to the ECI.
  • Online: X – @rajanvichare Instagram – mp_rajanvichare

Naresh Mhaske

Naresh Mhaske chose to go with CM Eknath Shinde when the Shiv Sena split. Like his opponent he too was associated with senior Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe. The announcement of his candidacy from the Mahayuti elicited the wrath of some BJP workers who expected the ticket to be given to a BJP politician.

  • Profession: construction business
  • Political experience: An experienced politician, Naresh Mhaske has held two terms as a corporator in the Thane Municipal Corporation, in 2012 and 2017. He was elected as the Mayor of the Thane Municipal Corporation in 2019.
  • Cases: 2 cases are pending against him as per the affidavit he has submitted to the ECI.
  • Online: X – @nareshmhaske Instagram – nareshmhaskeofficial
MumbaiVotes, a non-profit working for voter awareness and providing data and analysis about Lok Sabha elections 2024, has studied all the candidates for every constituency in Mumbai along with Thane, Kalyan and Palghar. Following is the list of candidates and their affidavits as published by MumbaiVotes.
** Thane Constituency – https://mumbaivotes.com/constituency/270/
** You can also find more information about all Mumbai Candidates here.
** To compare political parties click here. You can also find manifesto analysis of the BJP, Shiv Sena and Congress
.

Past election results

2019CandidateSexPartyVote Share (%)
1Rajan VichareMShiv Sena (UBT)63.3%
2Anand ParanjpeMNationalist Congress Party (NCP)28.09%
3Mallikarjun PujariMVachit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA)4.1%
Source: One India
2014CandidateSexPartyVote Share (%)
1Rajan VichareMShiv Sena56.5%
2Sanjeev NaikMNationalist Congress Party (NCP)29.09%
3Abhijeet PanseMMaharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)4.05%
Source: One India

Key issues in Thane constituency

Rapid urbanisation has been a boon and a bane for the Thane constituency, which is adjacent to Mumbai. Thane, which has emerged as a satellite township for Mumbai, has its economic, social and cultural life intertwined with that of Mumbai. It has borne the brunt of urbanisation of Mumbai resulting in congested roads, water scarcity and lop-sided development. 

It has emerged as the preferred residential zone for middle class professional Mumbaikars looking for affordable housing options thus forcing them into long-distance travelling for jobs on the Mumbai local trains. 

Navi Mumbai
The planned city of Navi Mumbai is a part of the Thane Constituency. Pic: By Navi guy – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=77737040

Road networks are good but heavily congested, distant and time-consuming thus forcing the transportation load heavily on the railway services. Even minor delays or technical snags in train services impact the working-class population to a large extent triggering protests and dharnas and even rail-rokos.

Massive daily standstill traffic congestion on the arterial Ghodbunder Road, which connects Thane city with the neighbouring developing townships of Mira-Bhayandar and Vasai-Virar. Public bus services are dismal and unreliable and auto rickshaws have proved inadequate to meet the last-minute connectivity needs of the huge population that has moved in here. The population here has drastically ballooned. According to the 2011 census, it has the third largest population in the state. currently, the population of Thane city is estimated to be 2,613,000 and that of Thane metro at 26,129,000. Whereas it was 1,841,488 and 18,394,912 respectively in 2011 as per the provisional census report. (Source: census2011.co.in)

The metro network promises much hope but is not yet ready. Its construction work however has compounded traffic congestion to unbearable levels. Unfettered, unplanned development has led to a huge population with the authorities now struggling to put up support infrastructure in place.

The city of lakes has its lakes being encroached upon, going dry or having sewage dumped in it. Surrounded by the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP)  and the Thane Creek, the environment today faces the onslaught of concrete projects coming up to meet the needs of citizens. 


Read more: Traffic woes around Thane station road a never-ending problem


People speak

Rohit Joshi, 46, convenor of the Yeoor Environmental  Society, whose family has been based in Thane for over five generations, observes that Thane has turned from a real jungle into a concrete jungle to feed into the unbridled greed of the builders’ lobby, already leading to a water crisis scenario here. He recalls how the Bombay High Court had banned construction on the Ghodbunder Road demanding to know how Thane city would meet its water needs.

“Thane has no water source of its own. It is entirely dependent on the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) pipelines that provide Thane with a part of the water that it takes from Thane’s dams – Tansa and Vaitarna, for Mumbai. With no water to meet their needs, citizens from huge residential complexes are entirely dependent on tanker water today,” says Joshi.

This is despite Thane being a lake city, having 65 lakes, most of which have been reduced to ponds or have sewage dumped into them or have slum encroachments on them.

“Despite being blessed with Yeoor forest ranges and Thane creeks, its environment is being destroyed rapidly with over 10,000 trees being cut for the three metro networks and its casting yard is coming up over wetlands. Unfortunately, there is no due diligence followed nor experts’ or citizens’ viewpoints considered for projects. Though the disastrous repercussions of short-sighted projects are already staring right in our faces, our leadership is all set to dump many more such projects on us with no concern for life or environment,” says Joshi.

Yeoor Hills, Thane
This constituency is home to the greenery of the Yeoor Hills. Pic: By Dinesh Valke from Thane, India – at Yeoor Hills, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112160942

Journalist Dilip Sapate, who has been based in Thane for over four decades, rues that lack of city planning had led to lopsided development pushing people into difficult living conditions. People have to endure massive congestion on Ghodbunder Road, the arterial road that connects Thane to neighbouring townships of Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayander, which has attracted huge residential complexes.

“The train services are overburdened, public bus services are irregular and unreliable and rickshaws are inadequate to meet the transportation needs of the huge population that has already moved in here,” says Sapate.

While the population has increased, there is no corresponding rise in social infrastructure set-ups like hospitals, playgrounds, gardens or even higher educational institutions. He observes that major industries like Voltas, Cadbury’s, Bayer, Raymond, Nicholas Piramal have shut leading to job losses and are being replaced by residential complexes.

Thane constituency candidates in the news

Rajan Vichare

Rajan Vichare has been known to make bold statements mainly against those, who have left his party to join Eknath Shinde, calling them traitors. He has said that if elected he will work on remodelling and building a new Thane station, as well as improve connectivity via waterways in his constituency.

Naresh Mhaske

After Eknath Shinde announced Naresh Mhaske’s nomination from the Thane Lok Sabha constituency as the Mahayuti candidate, BJP workers and office-bearers from Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar conducted a mass resignation to protest the move. Many others announced their decision to not campaign for Mhaske. Protesting BJP workers claimed that the decision had been a complete shock as they were expecting the ticket to go to a BJP candidate. 

Star campaigners have been canvassing support for Naresh Mhaske, including the actor Govinda and the wife of the Chief Minister, Lata Shinde. He has said that if elected he will build a new railway station on the land on which the Thane Mental Hospital currently stands. He has also promised to construct a hospital along the lines of AIIMS in Navi Mumbai.

Also read:

Comments:

  1. Avinash Kubal says:

    The details of the candidates official websites must be provided so that their work for the constituency can be judged .

  2. Abhay Pathak says:

    Incredible work

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