Thane Lok Sabha Election 2024: Higher Voter Turnout in CM Shinde's Home Turf as Vichare and Mhaske Battle in Tight Race

Compared to the previous Lok Sabha elections, voter turnout in the Thane constituency has increased by three percent this time. Voter turnout has risen in the Mira-Bhayander, Ovala-Majiwada, and Thane assembly constituencies, as well as in Belapur, Airoli, and Kopri-Pachpakhadi. Kopri-Pachpakhadi is the constituency of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while Belapur and Airoli are BJP strongholds. However, there is ongoing discussion about who will benefit from the increased voter turnout in the BJP-dominated assembly constituencies of Mira-Bhayander and Thane.

For the first time in Thane Lok Sabha, there was a direct contest between two factions of Shiv Sena. With one side representing the party and its symbol and the other side the Thackeray faction, the election results are now being analyzed to determine who benefited and who lost. In the previous election, Rajan Vichare won with a significant majority. This time, it's predicted that the winner, whether Naresh Mhaske or Vichare, will win by a narrow margin, based on voting data. This year, Thane Lok Sabha saw a voter turnout of approximately 52.09 percent, compared to 49.39 percent last time, marking an increase of three percent.

Thane is considered a stronghold of Chief Minister Shinde. In his Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly constituency, voter turnout was 51.93 percent in 2019. This year, it increased to 56.25 percent, a rise of about five percent, which is seen as advantageous for Mhaske. The Thane assembly constituency, represented by BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar, had a voter turnout of 60.30 percent in the last election, while this time it recorded 59.52 percent. In this constituency, BJP officials had expressed their dissatisfaction to the senior leadership until the final days of campaigning.