In a significant political upset for the Bahujan Vanchit Aaghadi (BVA), Sneha Dube Pandit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defeated BVA chief Hitendra Thakur by a margin of over 3,700 votes, according to the Election Commission's data. As per the final count after 26 rounds, Dube Pandit secured 77,279 votes, while Thakur garnered 74,004 votes.
Hitendra Thakur, a six-time MLA from the Vasai constituency, was vying for a seventh term. He had represented the seat from 1990 to 2009, first as a Congress candidate and later as an Independent, before losing to Vivek Pandit in 2009. Thakur subsequently formed the BVA and regained the seat in 2014.
This year’s Vasai assembly election featured seven candidates, with the spotlight on three main contenders: incumbent MLA and BVA leader Hitendra Thakur, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) secretary Vijay Patil, and BJP's Sneha Dube Pandit, a prominent leader of the Shramjivi Sanghatna. The outcome marks a major shift in Vasai, traditionally considered a stronghold of Thakur's party.