Shiv Sena retains Thane

The Shiv Sena has yet again proved that it commands supremacy in Thane. Party candidate Anand Paranjpe...

The Shiv Sena has yet again proved that it commands supremacy in Thane. Party candidate Anand Paranjpe defeated the NCP8217;s Sanjeev Naik by a huge margin of 90,927 votes in the Thane8217;s Lok Sabha by-elections that took place on May 22. Paranjpe garnered 4,62,744 votes and Naik 3,71,817 in this 36 lakh-voter constituency.

Anand8217;s victory was much bigger than his father8217;s: in 2004 parliamentary elections, late MP Prakash Paranjpe had defeated the NCP8217;s Vasant Davkhare by around 22,000 votes. The by-election was necessitated after the death of Prakash Paranjpe, who represented the constituency four times.

Anand led in Thane, Kalyan and Ambernath Assembly segments, all three considered as the Sena8217;s strongholds. Sanjeev Naik couldn8217;t get a hefty lead from his hometown Navi Mumbai, the Belapur assembly segment as Davkhare had gained in the last elections.

However, Anand8217;s victory comes in the wake of a low voter turnout of only 26 per cent, a reason that caused a lot of disappointment for all candidates.

8220;This is a victory against gundaraj and of good work of the Sena,8221; said Anand, after the victory.

Though Sanjeev Naik was considered a stronger candidate by way of his experience, money and muscle power, the Sena did not want to give the NCP a chance to wrest the seat because of its emotional attachment with it: the party tasted power for the first time only from Thane. Interestingly, the Sena also controls the Thane Municipal Corporation TMC.

The defeat comes as a bigger shock for Navi Mumbai Belapur MLA and State Environment Minister Ganesh Naik as more than a dozen NCP ministers, including Union Aviation Minister Praful Patel and MP Supriya Sule, had campaigned for Sanjeev Naik.

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Meanwhile, Thane, Anand8217;s hometown, was painted colour saffron. The scene at Tembi Naka, the district headquarters of the Sena, was jubilant as Shiv Sainiks danced to the tune of the party song and distributed sweets.