MNS announces Thane, Kalyan rural candidates

Thane: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Monday announced the name of its Thane-Palghar party president, Avinash Jadhav, to contest Thane assembly seat. This is the second time that Jadhav will fight the seat against BJP's Sanjay Kelkar after he lost against the latter in 2019 with a margin of nearly 20,000. Raj Thackeray also declared the candidature of sitting MLA from Kalyan (rural) Pramod (Raju) Patil.
Thackeray came to Kalyan on Monday for the inauguration of Patil's office. During this event, he declared the candidature of both candidates and stated on Oct 24, he would be present during the filing of the forms for both candidates.
Jadhav, who has become the party's face in the region, is known to be preparing to contest the seat—a predominantly Marathi and Gujarati bastion—since a few years. Accordingly, he has ensured his representation at vital social and civic issues in the city and region. Political circles are abuzz with the possibility of the Thane seat grabbing maximum attention as it is likely to be a triangular fight among BJP, MNS and UBT. — Manoj Badgeri & Pradeep Gupta