PANVEL: In a verdict that has redrawn the political map of Panvel’s rural hinterland, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday swept all eight zilla parishad seats in Panvel taluka and won 15 of the 16 panchayat samiti constituencies, breaching what was long considered the Peasants and Workers Party’s (PWP) fortress.
The lone panchayat samiti seat outside the BJP’s column went to a candidate from the Shiv Sena (UBT) faction, leaving the opposition with only a marginal foothold in the taluka’s rural governance structure.
The BJP’s scale of victory marks a striking reversal of the 2017 polls, when the PWP had dominated the taluka by winning six of the eight zilla parishad seats and 12 of the 16 panchayat samiti constituencies. Monday’s results, therefore, represent a structural shift in the balance of power in Raigad’s fastest-urbanising taluka.
Celebrations broke out across Panvel as results were declared, with BJP workers gathering outside counting centres and local offices, distributing sweets and raising slogans.
Before polling, the election had been framed as a direct confrontation between the BJP, seeking to extend its urban political dominance into rural Panvel, and the PWP, fighting to defend its last major stronghold in the region’s agrarian belt.
The verdict reflects the BJP’s success in carrying its momentum from the recent Panvel Municipal Corporation polls, where the party secured a commanding majority, into the rural areas. The party had also done well in the region during the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections.
Panvel MLA Prashant Thakur, who led the party’s campaign, had framed the rural election as a choice between continuity and stagnation. “Our campaign was built around the argument that villages should receive the same pace of infrastructure and development that has transformed urban nodes in Panvel,” Thakur said.
He added that the verdict reflected both organisational strength and public trust. “This is a victory of the people of Panvel taluka and of the work done at the grassroots level. We will treat this mandate as a responsibility and accelerate development works in rural areas,” he said.
For the PWP, the outcome represents a severe setback in a region where the party had historically built its base among farmers and rural communities, and exercised long-standing influence in the panchayat samiti. Several constituencies that were once considered part of the party’s rural stronghold swung decisively in favour of the BJP this time.
Political observers say the result signals a deeper transformation underway in Panvel’s hinterland. “As villages become increasingly integrated with logistics corridors, industrial growth and residential expansion linked to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, voting patterns are gradually shifting from traditional agrarian alignments toward development-centred narratives and leadership-driven campaigns,” said Prakash Baviskar, president of the NAINA Builders Association.