Vasai witnessed a unique mix of festivity and politics on Saturday as a banner recalling Devendra Fadnavis’ famous line “Mi Punha Yenaar” was spotted during the Dahi Handi celebrations. The phrase, which translates to “I will return,” had an added twist this time — “Ghasun Nahi, Thasun Yenaar” (will come back with a bang).
The display came against the backdrop of recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids in Vasai-Virar, defections of senior leaders to the BJP, and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi’s (BVA) stinging loss in all three assembly constituencies in the last polls.
Despite these setbacks, BVA President Hitendra Thakur struck a confident tone.
“My karyakarta is with me. It’s they who makes sure that our party wins and not the one who has left our party,” Thakur said. Thakur further asserted that the BVA would stage a stronger comeback in the upcoming elections. “We will win more seats than what we won in the last edition of polls, and it will be more than 90% of seats,” he declared.
Thakur further asserted that the BVA would stage a stronger comeback in the upcoming elections. “We will win more seats than what we won in the last edition of polls, and it will be more than 90% of seats,” he declared.
On the contentious issue of including 29 villages into the Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC), Thakur clarified that it was never on the BVA’s agenda. “We believed in the overall development of Vasai Taluka. Gram panchayats had budgets in lakhs, but it was our party that spent crores for development. Those who gave false hopes to the villagers are answerable,” he remarked.
The controversy comes as the region gears up for the next assembly polls. In the previous elections, the BVA, which had dominated Vasai since 1990, suffered a shocking defeat in Vasai, Nalasopara, and Boisar. Thakur himself, a six-term MLA, lost Vasai by just 3,153 votes to BJP’s newcomer Sneha Dube, who secured 77,553 votes.
Right before that election, Thakur had alleged that BJP national secretary general Vinod Tawde was distributing money during a meeting with Nallasopara candidate Rajan Naik. Though Tawde denied the charge, the controversy sparked a fresh debate on “cash-for-vote” politics.