Nomination papers of as many as 11 candidates including that of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) aspiring contestant -Dr. Ramrao Tukaram Kendre was rejected during the scrutiny process conducted by electoral officers for the Thane (25) Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday. Dr. Kendre whose nomination was found to be invalid was posted as a health officer in the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) till 2021.
While the fight for the seat will be among 25 candidates, a fierce contest between Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate Rajan Vichare (UBT) and Maha Yuti’s -Naresh Mhaske (Shiv Sena) is said to be on the cards to wrestle the constituency which is the home turf of chief minister-Eknath Shinde who is a sitting legislator from Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly segment. While Mhaske who is the former mayor of the TMC and a close confidante of the chief minister, Vichare has wrestled this seat for two consecutive terms (2014 and 2019) and is hoping to register a hattrick.
The last date of withdrawal of candidature is May 6, even as voting for the Thane Lok Sabha constituency is scheduled to be held in the fifth phase on May 20. The Thane Lok Sabha constituency comprises six assembly segments including- Mira-Bhayandar, Kopri-Pachpakhadi, Ovala-Majiwada, Thane, Airoli and Belapur.
36 candidates including 18 independents had filed their nominations till the last day (3, May). A total of 36 contestants had submitted a total of 43 nominations (some of them have filed more than one set of papers), confirmed an official from the state electoral office. A total of 105 nomination forms have been dispensed by the electoral office between April 26 to May 3.
