Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Fierce triangular contests in Vasai, Nalasopara

Palghar: The Vasai taluka is unique in many respects – it has pristine beaches, an agricultural zone, a fishing zone, an industrial zone, a forest zone, a tribal area, a mushrooming township, hills, majestic medieval forts and so on.

No other taluka in the country can boast of such diversity. Its rich forest, marine life and wetlands are unique.

Located 60-plus km away from downtown Mumbai in Palghar district, the tehsil-town falls in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) – the place offers several interesting things.

Today Vasai taluka is spread over Naigaon, Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar and some neighbouring areas.

It has two Maharashtra Legislative Assembly seats -- Vasai and Nalasopara.

While Vasai is represented by six-time MLA Hitendra Thakur, the founder of Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (VBA), his son Kshitij Thakur is representing Nalasopara for three terms.

This time the Thakur father-son duo is facing a stiff challenge in the region where they wield influence.

In Vasai, Hitendra Thakur, popularly known as Appa, faces Vijay Patil of the Congress and Sneha Dube of the BJP. Sneha is daughter of former Vasai MLA Vivek Pandit, who is a very senior social activist of Thane-Palghar belt and wife of Naveen Dube, who is an active social worker and politician and part of the hugely-popular Dube family.

“We are covering the entire constituency, house by house,” said Navin Dube.

In Nalasopara, Kshitij Thakur faces Rajan Naik of BJP and Sandeep Pandey of the Congress. “The Congress is giving a big challenge to the political opponents in the region,” said Ashraf Ali, Secretary, MPCC, Social Justice Department.

“The Vasai-Virar belt faces several challenges, the most important being open spaces,” said Sushil Dwivedi. “There are several infrastructure bottlenecks which need to be removed,” he added.

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.