Kshitij Thakur

Kshitij Thakur is an Indian politician, who is currently serving as a Member of Legislative Assembly from Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) representing Nalasopara constituency in the Maharashtra State Assembly, winning the seat third time consecutively since 2009.[2]

Kshitij Thakur
Member of the Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
2009
Preceded byConstituency established
ConstituencyNalasopara
Personal details
Born (1983-07-10) 10 July 1983
Devgaon, Maharashtra, India
Political partyBahujan Vikas Aghadi
SpousePrachi Galvankar (m.2012)[1]
Parents
Alma materUniversity of Mumbai
Harvard University
Stanford University
OccupationPolitician

Thakur's father, Hitendra Thakur, is a four-time MLA from Vasai and is the president of the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, a political party with a strong presence in the Vasai-Virar regions of Palghar district in Maharashtra.[3][4]

Early life and education

Kshitij Thakur was born on 10 July 1983, in Virar area of Palghar district, Maharashtra, India.[5] Thakur holds an MBA degree from Mumbai University. He completed an executive course in Real estate management from Harvard University.[6] He later pursued further studies at Stanford University.[7] He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from Mumbai University.[6]

Political career

Kshitij Thakur started his political career in 2009, contesting from Nallasopara constituency in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly after Vasai constituency was delimitated into Vasai, Nallasopara, and Boisar. He ran as a candidate from the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi party and won the election at the age of 26, with a margin of 40,782 votes. His opponents, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, received the second and third-highest votes, respectively. Thakur's victory made him the youngest MLA from the state.[8][9]

In the 2014 Vidhan Sabha elections, Thakur competed against Rajan Balkrishna Naik from the Bharatiya Janata Party. Thakur secured 1,13,566 votes, while Naik received 59,067 votes, resulting in Thakur's victory. The margin of Thakur's victory over Naik was 54,499 votes.[10][11][12]

2019 assembly election

Thakur won the 2009 and 2014 elections by a significant margin. However, in the 2019 Assembly Elections, he faced strong competition from Shiv Sena candidate Pradeep Sharma, a former Mumbai Police officer and encounter specialist. The pre-poll campaign generated considerable interest in the Nallasopara seat, with Sharma, putting up a strong challenge against Thakur.[13][14]

During the election campaign, both candidates made allegations against each other, which drew attention to the contest as one of the most closely-watched political battles in the state.[15] Several popular actors, including Govinda, Vinay Anand, Bhalchandra Kadam, and Shreya Bugade, endorsed Thakur during their campaign, while BJP MP Satyapal Singh campaigned in the support of Sharma.[7] Kshitij also secured the backing of Divya Salaskar, the daughter of late city police official Vijay Salaskar who died fighting during the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack.[16] Kshitij Thakur won the election by a margin of 43,724 votes over Sharma.[17][18]

Work

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, Kshitij Thakur organized food and ration distribution for those in need. To maintain social distancing, smaller WhatsApp groups were created to connect with nearby kitchens.[19]

In September 2020, on Teacher's Day, Thakur launched the 'School at Home' campaign to bring education to the underprivileged areas of Palghar district, Mumbai. The campaign involves partnering with professors to record syllabus content from Class I to Class X in English and Marathi languages. The videos were released through local cable networks with the help of social organizations, in association with the Vishnu Vaman Thakur Charitable Trust.[20]

In September 2020, he launched the 'Work From My Office' initiative, providing free office space with Wi-Fi and computer facilities for people in Virar, Vasai, Nala Sopara, and surrounding areas. The initiative aimed to address the challenges faced by commuters during the lockdown. Around 30,000 workstations were made available, with physical distancing, frequent sanitization, and temperature-oxygen checks implemented. The initiative received positive feedback from the community.[21][22][23] He also converted Viva College in Virar West and Viva Institute of Technology in Virar East, both run by his trust Vishnu Waman Thakur Charitable Trust, into quarantine and isolation centers.[24]

In August 2021, he was appointed as the President of the Governing Body of Maharashtra for the Khelo Masters Games Foundation (KMGF), a non-profit organization that aims to promote sports in India.[25]

In 2019, Kshitij Thakur received the Times Power Women and Men Award from The Times Group for his contributions to education, industry and infrastructure development, sports, healthcare, and employment generation in the Vasai-Virar Region of Maharashtra.[26][27]

Personal life

Thakur is the son of Hitendra Thakur, a four-time MLA and founder of Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi, a political party, and Pravina Thakur, who served as the first woman mayor of Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation.[28][29]

On 29 January 2012, Thakur married Prachi Galvankar, his childhood sweetheart, in a mass wedding ceremony held in Virar, Maharashtra. The wedding was attended by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, then Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar, as well as Manikrao Thakre, Sanjeev Naik, Vasant Davkhare, Ramdas Kadam, Gopal Shetty, Sanjay Raut, Baliram Sukur Jadhav and several film personalities, including Govinda, Aditya Pancholi, Johnny Lever, Milind Gunaji also attended the ceremony.[1][30]

Controversies

In March 2013, Thakur was suspended from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for allegedly physically assaulting a police officer within the premises of the state assembly.[31] However, Thakur denied assaulting the officer.[32] The home minister R. R. Patil later announced that the police officer was suspended for misbehaving and using foul language against the legislator.[33][34]

References
  1. "Legislator among 1,034 couples in Maharashtra's biggest mass marriage". Deccan Herald. 29 January 2012.
  2. "Hitendra Thakur's son Kshitij defeats encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma from Nalasopara". Mumbai Mirror. 24 October 2019.
  3. Vijapurkar, Mahesh (1 July 2015). "How to build a political stronghold: A case study of the Thakurs of the Vasai Virar civic body". Firstpost.
  4. Biraia Jaiswal, Pooja (19 October 2019). "A shot at power". The Week.
  5. "Kshitij Hitendra Thakur". Ourneta.com. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  6. "Kshitij Hitendra Thakur (Winner)". Myneta. 2019.
  7. Marpakwar, Chaitanya (20 October 2019). "Nalasopara's MLA ropes in stars to counter Sena threat". Mumbai Mirror.
  8. "Nalla Sopara votes in state's youngest MLA". Mumbai Mirror. 23 October 2009.
  9. Atalye, Sudhaanshu (19 November 2013). "It's Thakur junior in Nalasopara now". DNA India.
  10. "Maharashtra Election 2014, Kshitij Hitendra Thakur (Winner)". Myneta. 2014.
  11. "Maharashtra Assembly polls 2014". India Today. 19 October 2014.
  12. "Hitendra Thakur's son Kshitij defeats encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma". Mumbai Mirror. 24 October 2019.
  13. "Battle for Nalasopara – Pradeep Sharma vs Kshitij Thakur". Mumbai Mirror. 22 October 2019.
  14. Shivadekar, Sanjeev (19 October 2019). "A shootout of a different kind". Mid Day.
  15. Rawal, Swapnil (2 October 2019). "In Nallasopara, it is 'encounter specialist' vs strongman". Hindustan Times.
  16. "Mumbai: Vijay Salaskar's kin decides to back Kshitij Thakur in Nalasopara". The Times of India. 19 October 2019.
  17. "Former encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma loses by over 43,000 votes". India Today. 24 March 2022.
  18. "नालासोपाऱ्यात प्रदीप शर्मा पराभूत, क्षितिज ठाकूर यांनी मारली बाजी" (in Marathi). Loksatta. 24 October 2019.
  19. Chandrasekharan, Gitanjali (28 June 2020). "Coronavirus outbreak: Can politicians work from home?". Mid Day.
  20. Bose, Mrityunjay (5 September 2020). "Kshitij Thakur launches 'School at Home' campaign for underprivileged areas in Palghar district". Deccan Herald.
  21. Bose, Mrityunjay (23 September 2020). "Work from my office: BVA MLA lets people work, study from his party office for free". Deccan Herald.
  22. Adhav, Akshay (24 September 2020). "वसई-विरारकरांसाठी 'वर्क फ्रॉम माय ऑफिस' योजना, आमदार क्षितीज ठाकूर यांचा पुढाकार" (in Marathi). TV9.
  23. "वसई-विरारमध्ये 'वर्क फ्रॉम माय ऑफिस'; आमदार क्षितिज ठाकूर यांचा पुढाकार" (in Marathi). Sarkarnama. 25 September 2022.
  24. Bose, Mrityunjay (22 June 2020). "As COVID-19 cases spike, quarantine facilities augmented in Maharashtra's Palghar". Deccan Herald.
  25. Gupta, Gaurav (12 August 2021). "Kshitij Thakur named president of Maharashtra Khelo Masters' Games Foundation". The Times of India.
  26. "MLA Kshitij Thakur Awarded with Times power Award of the Year". HP Live News. 19 August 2019.
  27. "Times Power Women and Men Awards Honour Achievers; Shilpa Shetty, Ayushmann Khurrana In Attendance". The Economic Times. 27 August 2019.
  28. "Hitendra Thakur bows out, makes way for wife, son". Mumbai Mirror. 27 September 2009.
  29. "वसई-विरार महापालिकेच्या महापौरपदी प्रविणा ठाकूर विराजमान" (in Marathi). Divya Bhaskar. Dainik Bhaskar. 29 June 2015.
  30. "MLA ties knot at mass marriage in Virar". DNA India. 30 January 2012.
  31. "5 Maharashtra Legislators suspended for thrashing cop inside assembly". NDTV. 20 March 2013.
  32. "Maha MLAs thrash cop for fining lawmaker's driver". Hindustan Times. 20 March 2013.
  33. "Cop beaten up by MLAs suspended". The Hindu. 25 March 2013.
  34. "Traffic cop suspended for misbehaving with MLA". Indian Express. 19 March 2013.
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