Thane: With the Maharashtra assembly elections around the corner and one day left for filing the nominations, all key leaders have stepped out today (Monday, October 28) to fill their nomination forms. Among the key leaders is CM Eknath Shinde who filed nomination from his political bastion and traditional seat- Thane's Kopri-Pachpachadi. Notably, Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Kedar Dighe against Eknath Shinde from Kopri seat.
Kedar is nephew of Anand Dighe, the mentor of Eknath Shinde. The Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency is set to witness a fierce battle between Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (UBT).
Kedar on Monday visited Shakti Sthal in Thane, the samadhi of Dharmaveer Anang Dighe, to take blessings before filing his nomination against Eknath Shinde.
Kedar Dighe said, "I took blessings of my uncle Anand Dhighe, who worked for the people of Thane his whole life. I want to get works done for the people of Thane in next five years, which could not be done in the last 20 years. The issues like dumping, traffic and roads needs to be solved. Only building flyovers is not enough. I am heading to answer the common man's daily problems," Dighe said speaking with ANI.
Dharmaveer Anand Dighe was a firebrand leader of Thane. Shinde is Anand Dighe's protégé. After the split of Shiv Sena in 2022, Dighe's nephew chose to stay with the Uddhav Thackeray faction. He was keen in contesting 2024 Lok Sabha too, however, he has been fielded for assembly polls.
Before filing his nomination, Eknath Shinde also took blessings of late Anand Dighe by visiting Anand Ashram, Dighe's then residence and now Shiv Sena's central office.
Shinde is a four-term MLA from Kopri-Pachpakhadi seat and has been winning the seat every election with higher margins than his opponents. The seat falls in Thane Lok Sabha constituency, from where Shinde's right hand Naresh Mhaske won, defeating Sena (UBT) leader and sitting MP Rajan Vichare. Notably, Vichare has now filed nomination from Thane assembly, against BJP's Sanjay Kelkar.
Thane city, the political bastion of Eknath Shinde has three assembly seats. For Sena (UBT) will give thought fight to Shiv Sena and BJP in Thane and undoubtedly, winning all three seats would not be an easy battle. Winning Thane is not only a matter of electoral success for Shinde and Mahayuti, but is a fight for retaining the political bastion as well.
