Coastal Maharashtra, once a Shiv Sena bastion, firmly behind Mahayuti

Mumbai: The coastal belt of Maharashtra comprising the Konkan and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) excluding Mumbai was once a stronghold of the Shiv Sena. Its founder Bal Thackeray enjoyed unparalleled clout in the region for decades, thanks to many leaders and cadres who lived there. But the 2024 assembly polls have shown that the hold of the Thackerays has weakened considerably.

Out of 39 seats in Konkan and MMR, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) could win only one seat. The opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance, of which Shiv Sena (UBT) is a part, also fared poorly, with NCP (SP), Samajwadi Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] winning one seat each. The remaining 35 seats were won by the ruling Mahayuti alliance, with BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP bagging 16, 16 and 3 seats respectively.

In the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year, the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) had bagged five out of six seats in the region. The BJP won in Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Palghar, the Shiv Sena in Thane and Kalyan, and the NCP in Raigad while the Bhiwandi parliamentary was bagged by NCP (SP).

The Mahayuti’s stellar performance in the assembly polls could be attributed partly to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which has a good network in the coastal belt. The RSS actively helped the BJP in Konkan and MMR, while CM Shinde, who started his political career in this belt, provided candidates with adequate funds and resources and played a key role in securing Shiv Sena’s hold over Thane and Palghar.

The Mahayuti won 16 out of 18 seats in Thane district where Shinde’s men control most civic bodies, while the Kalwa and Bhiwandi seats were won by NCP (SP)’s Jitendra Awhad and Samajwadi Party’s Raees Shaikh, respectively.

Shinde himself won by a massive margin of 120,000 votes from the Kopri-Panchpakhadi constituency while the Thane city and Ovala Majiwada seats were bagged by BJP’s Sanjay Kelkar and Shiv Sena’s Pratap Sarnaik, respectively. In Mira Bhayander, BJP’s Narendra Mehta defeated the Congress’s Muazaffar Hussain by a margin of over 144,000 votes despite the sitting Shiv Sena MLA Geeta Jain contesting as an independent.

In Navi Mumbai, where the Naik family holds considerable clout, BJP’s Ganesh Naik won from Airoli while his son Sandeep Naik, who crossed over to the NCP (SP) prior to the polls, was defeated in Belapur by BJP’s Manda Mhatre by a slender margin of 377 votes.

In Palghar district adjoining Gujarat, which has six assembly segments, the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) lost in all seats despite having three sitting MLAs – Hitendra Thakur from Vasai, Kshitij Thakur from Nalasopara and Rajesh Patil from Boisar. On Tuesday, a day before polling, BVA chief Hitendra Thakur had alleged that senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde was camping in a hotel in Virar to distribute money among voters to help the Nalasopara BJP candidate Rajan Naik. While Tawde, Naik and their supporters were booked for violating the model code of conduct, on Saturday, Naik emerged victorious, defeating Kshitij Thakur by over 36,000 votes. Hitendra Thakur, who lost to BJP’s Sneha Dube Pandit in Vasai, said, “God alone knows what went wrong.”

Of the six seats in Palghar, the BJP and Shiv Sena won three and two seats respectively, while the Dahanu seat was bagged by CPI (M)’s Vinod Nikole by over 100,000 votes.

In the coastal district of Sindhudurg, where the undivided Sena’s clout reduced considerably after Narayan Rane left the party in 2005, the Mahayuti won all three seats. Rane’s elder son Nilesh, who crossed over from the BJP to the Shiv Sena prior to the polls and was fielded from Kudal, defeated two-time Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Vaibhav Naik, while his younger son Nitesh, who contested from Kankavli on a BJP ticket, defeated Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Sandesh Parkar. The Sawantwadi seat was bagged by Shiv Sena leader and education minister Deepak Kesarkar.

In Ratnagiri district, Shiv Sena leader and industries minister Uday Samant won his fifth straight term from the Ratnagiri segment while his brother Kiran Samant, a builder from Mumbai who made his electoral debut in this election, won from Rajapur. In Chiplun, sitting NCP MLA Shekhar Nikam defeated NCP (SP)’s Prashant Yadav while in Dapoli, sitting Shiv Sena MLA Yogesh Kadam defeated Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Vasant Kadam. Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Bhaskar Jadhav defeated Shiv Sena’s Ramesh Bendal in Guhagar, handing MVA the only seat in south Konkan.

In Raigad district in the MMR, the Peasants and Workers Party bagged two seats while NCP state president Sunil Tatkare’s daughter Aditi Tatkare defeated NCP (SP)’s Anil Nagavane in Shrivardan. In Mahad, Shiv Sena chief whip Bharat Gogavale defeated Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Snehal Jagtap. In Karjat, sitting Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Thorve defeated independent candidate Sudhakar Ghare while in Panvel, sitting BJP MLA Prashant Thakur defeated BD Patil from the Peasants and Workers Party. BJP’s Mahesh Baldi retained his seat in Uran.