Prashant Thakur

Prashant Thakur was born in Panvel on 5 August 1974, as a son to Ramsheth Changu Thakur and Shakuntala Thakur. Ramsheth Thakur is Ex - Member of Parliament (MP). Prashant Thakur started studying civil engineering but didn't continue after second year (bachelor's degree in engineering takes at least 4 years in India). He can speak Marathi (native Maharashtra), Hindi and English.

Prashant Thakur became President of the Raigad District Youth Congress Committee in 2005. He then became the President of the Panvel Municipal Corporation in 2006 and stayed in position until 2009. At present he is Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and also President of Raigad District, Navi Mumbai panvel 400614

He is married to Varsha Thakur with 2 children, Amogh Thakur and Apurv Thakur.

Prashant Thakur is currently a member of the Board of Directors at Janardan Bhagat Shikshan Prasarak Sanstha in Panvel. He is also the Managing Director at Shahu Institute of Information Technology Pvt. Ltd. His hobbies include reading books, travelling and sports. He is currently the Managing Director of the Shahu Institute of Information Technology and the Director of Malhar Network - the core entity which organizes the popular Malhar Mahotsav at CKT College, Panvel.[3]

Prashant Thakur has also been the first to protest against a toll plaza being constructed at the Kharghar junction on the Sion-Panvel highway. He believes that the Rs. 1,220 crore spent on highway widening and concretization should be spent by City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO).[4] He has ensured this matter was taken up in the Vidhan Sabha and staged a protest with Congress workers on 11 July 2014 - the day on which the State Government was to declare a decision on whether the toll plaza would be constructed. This protest has got him a meeting with Maharashtra's Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Prashant Thakur threatened to resign from his position as MLA if a decision in the residents' favor was not passed by 12 July 2014.[5]

On 12 July, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan agreed to MLA Prashant Thakur's points against the Kharghar and granted exemption to vehicles with registration MH46 and MH06. He also stated that he wanted to formulate a committee to check the feasibility of eliminating toll nakas from the state of Maharashtra. He said he would like to include Prashant Thakur as a member in that committee. The State government then continued to drag its feet on the issue. As a result, Prashant Thakur resigned from his position as MLA claiming that the government was not working for the benefit of the people, saying that he would not contest the 2014 Maharashtra Elections and would stay a loyal supporter of the Congress always. On 17 September, it was declared that he and his team would be joining the BJP.[6]

Prashant Thakur has won many awards including the "Best Youth Award" by Nehru Yuva Kendra,[7] a Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India. He was also selected in the ‘Talent Hunt Programme’ launched by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi. He is one of the members out of the nine for the selection of President, Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress Committee. He has campaigned with Rahul Gandhi during many election campaign rallies[8]

Prashant Thakur left the PWP party to join Congress party and now left congress to join BJP party for political gains. Former Uran MLA Vivek Patil warned Prashant thakur to file PIL against him. He said "Thakur had adpted unfair means to acquire land for sports complex in Ulwe".[9]

The Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government removed BJP MLA Prashant Thakur as chairman of Cidco, which is building the Navi Mumbai international airport with a private player.

• Panvel (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
• Maharashtra Legislative Assembly

• Official website
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UhimaBIGyw