Polling for Thane Lok Sabha seat begins

THANE: Voting for the by-poll to Thane Lok Sabha began this morning on a peaceful note amidst tight security.
Around 10 per cent of the estimated 36 lakh voters exercised their franchise till 1100 hours, local officials said.

The by-poll was necessitated due to the death of Shiv Sena MP Prakash Paranjape. His son Anand Paranjpe (Shiv Sena) and NCP leader and state minister Ganesh Naik's son Sanjeev Naik are in the fray.

The Thane seat covers six Assembly segments and there are 3,163 polling booths. There have been no untoward incidents during the first three hours of polling, police said.

Campaigning for the by-poll has seen bigwigs, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray, addressing public meetings here.

The NCP chief has made the by-poll a prestige issue, saying the result would determine "which side the wind is blowing in the state".

Thane has been traditionally a Shiv Sena strong hold. The party has retained the seat during the last four terms.