When Vasai MLA and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi chief Hitendra Thakur decided not to contest the Assembly elections he surprised many by his decision. People were even more stunned when he fielded his son Kshitij from the Nalasopara Assembly seat.

However, the election proved to be a cakewalk for Kshitij Thakur. He won with a margin of more than 40,000 votes. The 26-year-old MLA— one of the youngest along with Shiv Sena MLA from Osmanabad Om Raje Nimbalkar— has already chalked out a plan for his constituency. His plans include upgrading infrastructure in the place and improvement of health and education sectors.

“The area is seeing a growth in the population and the infrastructure here needs to be developed accordingly. The health and education sector is also in a poor state and needs to be improved,” he says.

Kshitij left Virar in the third grade to join a boarding school in Dehradun. For the next seven years he moved from Dehradun to Mussorie to Bangalore. He came back for his HSC from the Annasaheb Vartak College, from where his father also studied, in Vasai. He went to the United States for graduation and a course in marketing. After returning from the US he did an MBA (Marketing) from Mumbai University.

“The population in my constituency is cosmopolitan in nature and having studied in almost every region of the country I can connect with them in a better way,” he says.

Sources say he entered politics as the party needed to present a fresh face from the Thakur clan. The family had come under fire when Bhai Thakur was alleged to have killed Suresh Dube in 1989.  “Age and experience does not count here. I have seen my father connect with people as an MLA. He always did social work (samajkaran) from his rajkaran (politics). And now it was my turn to follow suit. With an MP and two MLAs of the BVS my father wants to concentrate on the party and strengthen the base,” he adds.