Maharashtra deputy chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that chief minister Eknath Shinde’s son and two-time Shiv Sena member of Parliament (MP) Shrikant Shinde will be the ruling alliance Mahayuti’s candidate from the Kalyan Lok Sabha seat, dismissing opposition to his candidature from a section of BJP workers.
“Shrikant Shinde is the Mahayuti candidate. We are with Shrikant Shinde. There is no opposition to him. We all will work for him and get him elected with a much larger margin than last time,” Fadnavis told reporters after the BJP foundation day functions in Nagpur.
The Mahayuti alliances comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party led by another deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar. Shirkant Shinde won from Kalyan Lok Sahba seat in 2014 and 2019.
Members of the Sena had complained to Fadnavis on Friday after a section of the BJP cadres raised objection to Shrikant Shinde’s candidature. The schism between the two parties in Kalyan became pronounced after the shooting of Kalyan city Sena chief Mahesh Gaikwad by BJP Kalyan East MLA Ganpat Gaikwad inside the Hill Line police station in Ulhasnagar on February 2. Gaikwad survived the attack.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said, “Shrikant Shinde has worked hard in the last 10 years. He has been an ideal MP and showed how an MP should work. I am thankful to Devendra Fadnavis for announcing his candidature.”
On the local BJP workers opposing Shinde’s candidature, Mhaske said, “Deputy CM Fadnavis has clarified. There is no opposition to Shrikant Shinde’s name. I and BJP minister Ravindra Chavan have been holding meetings for many days. Some Ganpat Gaikwad supporters are opposing, and they are using the BJP label. They are putting pressure to release Ganpat Gaikwad.”
Mhaske also claimed that there was no confusion over who would contest from Thane, the district in which Kalyan is located, and which, like, Kalyan, is considered a fief of the Shiv Sena. “It’s a Shiv Sena seat,” he said, alluding to the Shinde faction of the party. The Thane Lok Sabha seat is currently held by Rajan Vichare of the Shiv Shena (UBT) led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.
However, local BJP leader Nana Suryavanshi voiced an opposing view, claiming the Thane ticket belonged to Ganpat Gaikwad. “We all feel that the seat must come to the BJP and what is wrong in that?” he said.
Meanwhile, Shrikant Shinde thanked Fadnavis. “We have been working on the campaign. I will win by a big margin,” he said.
On comments by Naresh Mhaske, Shrikant said: “He [Ganpat Gaikwad] himself went to the police station and fired. They want to spoil the atmosphere. Even the BJP is not supporting what Ganpat Gaikwad did. We all must strive to get all Mahayuti candidates elected.”
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