As votes are being counted for the Maharashtra Assembly elections 2024, a neck-and-neck battle is unfolding in the Nalasopara constituency of Palghar district. This is the same constituency where BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde faced heated opposition from BVA candidate Kshitij Thakur and his supporters a day before polling on November 22. BVA supporters had accused Tawde of distributing money to BJP workers to influence voters.

Despite the controversy, BJP candidate Rajan Naik is currently leading by a slim margin of 993 votes after four rounds of counting. Naik has secured 32,408 votes, while BVA's Kshitij Thakur follows closely with 31,415 votes.

The outcome is expected to become clearer as the counting progresses.

VBA's Kshitij Thakur is the incumbent MLA from the Nalasopara constituency, having won the last three consecutive elections from the seat.

In the 2019 elections, he defeated Shiv Sena candidate Pradeep Sharma by an impressive margin of over 43,000 votes.