- Name: Rajan Vichare
- Constituency: Thane
Rajan Baburao Vichare, 63, has been an intrinsic part of Thane becoming a political stronghold of the Shiv Sena.
Vichare rose from the party ranks from being a local unit leader (shakha pramukh) of the Shiv Sena to corporator for four terms in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) between 1992 and 2014. He also served as the mayor of Thane from 2007 to 2010.
Subsequently, he represented Thane in the legislature and in Parliament. He has been a member of Parliament (MP) from Thane for two terms in 2014 and 2019 and is now fighting for his third term.
In 2014, he defeated Sanjeev Naik by 3,14,065 votes and in 2019, he defeated Anand Paranjpe of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) by 412145 votes and by getting 63.3% of the voteshare.
He chose to stay on with the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena. This was after Eknath Shinde, the MLA under him, from Kopri-Patharpakhadi assembly constituency, rebelled to become the chief minister of Maharashtra.
He has pushed for the infrastructural development of Thane and Navi Mumbai, right from the redevelopment of the Thane railway station, the metro network and the Ro-Ro waterways connectivity. He believes that development accelerates a city’s prosperity and is known to back public transportation projects.
Who is Rajan Vichare?
| Name | Rajan Baburao Vichare |
| Age | 63 years |
| Political Party | Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) |
| Educational Qualification | First Year of Junior College from S.K. Somaiya Vinaymandir Junior College, Vidyavihar, Mumbai |
| Profession | Business |
| Enrolled as Voter in | 148 Thane (Maharashtra) constituency, at Serial no 454 in Part no 258 |
| rajanbvichare@gmail.com | |
| Contact Number | 022-25436767, 25424997, 9821191111 |
| Address | B-103 D, Almeida Apartment,Charai, Thane (West)- 400601. |
Online presence
- Website:www.rajanvichare.com
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rajanvichare
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rajanvicharethane?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@mrrajanvichare?feature=shared
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mp_rajanvichare
Read more: Lok Sabha 2024: Know your MP — Arvind Sawant, Mumbai South
Criminal Cases against Rajan Vichare
Six criminal cases are pending against him according to his affidavit submitted for the 2024 elections.
Apart from charges of unlawful assembly for participating in agitations, there are two cases of cheating under section 420 along with section 409 of the Indian Penal Code for criminal breach of trust by a public servant. In his explanation in the affidavit, Vichare mentions that these offences were made against many others and is essentially about “resolutions made.”
In a case of criminal intimidation under Section 506 filed at the Naupada police station in the year 2005, Vichare explains that since he had not received any summons from the police or the court, he had no idea about the details of the case.
In 2019, there were nine cases against him. In 2014, Vichare had 13 cases registered against him including rioting, assault on government servant, unlawful assembly, intent to provoke breach of peace, voluntarily causing hurt, rioting armed with deadly weapon, endangering life and safety of others.
Assets and liabilities
As per his affidavit uploaded on affidavit.eci.gov.in, Rajan Vichare has registered a 77% rise in the immovable properties owned by him and his wife. His movable property in the form of jewellery, deposits etc have registered a 7.8% rise.
Details | Holdings in 2024 (self+spouse) | Holdings in 2019 | Change in 5 years |
| Movable assets | Rs 3,72,87,627 | Rs 3,45,61,247 | Rs 27,26,380 |
| Immovable assets | Rs 25,99,91,631 | Rs 14,68,80,198 | Rs 11,31,11,433 |
| Total Assets (Movable + Immovable) | Rs 29,72,79,258 | Rs 18,14,41,445 | Rs 11,58,37,813 |
| Liabilities | Rs 4,18,99,116 | Rs 5,40,80,233 | – Rs 1,21,81,117 |
Positions held by Rajan Vichare
In 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024):
- Member, Telephone Advisory Committee- Mumbai-II
- September 2022 onwards: Member, Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice
- September 2022 onwards: Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
In 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019):
- Member, Committee on petitions
- January 2015 onwards: Co-Chairman, Vigilance & Monitoring Cell (Ministry of Rural Development), Thane District, Maharashtra
- October 2019 onwards: Member – Committee on Petitions
- September 2019 – September 2022: Member, Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas
- July 2019 onwards: Chairperson, District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee, Thane District, Maharashtra
- December 2014 onwards: Member, Telephone Advisory Committee, Mumbai East-II
- Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
Source: sansand.in/ls
Performance in Parliament
| MP term (2019-2024) | Attendance | No of debates participated | No of questions asked | Private Member’s Bill |
| Rajan Vichare | 66% | 26 | 281 | 0 |
| National average | 79% | 46.7 | 210 | 1.5 |
| State average | 74% | 57.6 | 386 | 2.9 |
Rajan Vichare emphasised on improving the public transportation needs of Thane. In Parliament, he demanded that Thane railway station be granted the status of world class railway station. He demanded that metro network and water transport services like Ro-Ro be introduced between Vasai and Bhayander.
He also raised his voice demanding action against air and water pollution. He also raised questions about the state of the old age homes in Maharashtra, drinking water schemes in the state, maternal mortality rates. He asked about cess collection and allocations of revenue, survey on domestic / migrant workers, cheaper domestic flight,inclusion of more commodities under the public distribution scheme.
He managed to get seven assurances in the 17th Lok Sabha on issues like the need for a jetty at Navi Mumbai and for cashless schemes for accident victims.
MPLADS spending
Though Rs 17 crore of funds were entitled for Thane constituency, only Rs 7 crore was released. This was despite works of Rs 18.116 crore were recommended and Rs 0.293 crore was leftover as unspent balance.
| Total Entitlement | Rs 17 crore |
| Total GOI release | Rs 7 crore |
| Total release pending | Rs 10 crore |
| Unsanctioned balance | Rs 9.71 crore |
| Unspent balance | Rs 0.21 crore |
In his earlier term, he had utilised his MPLADS funds to provide computers to government-aided educational institutions, make roads from Shankar Mandir to Old Water Tank Road, put up LED lights near a lake and at Pereira Nagar and Ganesh Wadi area.
Rajan Vichare in the news
Rajan Vichare has been in the news for his bold revelations mainly against party rebels, who are now with Eknath Shinde. He has been in the news for stating about how a golden gang operated at the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) alluding to corrupt nexus between political leaders and corporation officials.
Vichare has also spoken about how chief minister Shinde had been contemplating to rebel and shift to other parties long ago and had even invited to join them. Both Shinde and Vichare happen to be proteges of former Thane Sena leader Anand Dighe, whose legacy continues to be used during this elections for votes.
It’s a fight between the two factions of the Shiv Sena at Thane. Both Vichare and Shinde continue to clash over the Dighe legacy, loyalty and even over portrayals in his biopic.
His protest about the quality of food served in the Maharashtra Bhavan at New Delhi had made headlines. Vichare forced a catering manager, who was observing Ramzan fast, to taste the shoddy quality food served at the Bhavan. Controversy erupted in Parliament with walkouts and demand for apology after it was found that the staffer’s Ramzan fast was broken by Vichare’s force feeding.