Resentment In Maharashtra, Haryana BJP As Sitting MLAs Dropped
When the BJP released its final list for Maharashtra amid hope and speculation, it was clear that some of the big names were out. The final list came on the last day of filing nominations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could finalise its seat-sharing deal with Shiv Sena only days before nominations were to be over. The saffron party was for long seen as the junior partner in their alliance with Shiv Sena within the state. This time, however, the BJP has announced candidates on 150 seats, while the Shiv Sena is fighting on 124, in the 288-member Assembly.
While the BJP might have dealt with its alliance woes, there have been reports of resentment within the party for dropping some of the senior leaders and ministers. The party left out, among others, the Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Vinod Tawde, who was once even seen as a Chief Minister probable. He was replaced with Sunil Rane from the Borivali seat. Six times MLA and Minister for Housing, Prakash Mehta, was replaced in Ghatkopar East by Parag Shah. On Friday, the infighting came out in the open as Mehta's supporters vandalised Shah's car when he went to file his nomination.
Muktainagar MLA Eknath Khadse, who had earlier served as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, was replaced by his daughter Rohini.
Raj Purohit, a senior party leader in the state and six-time MLA was also dropped. Purohit, the sitting MLA from Colaba in South Mumbai, was replaced with Rahul Narvekar, a former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader who recently joined the BJP.
Three-time MLA from Kamptee Assembly constituency in Nagpur district and Minister for Energy Chandrashekhar Bawankule was meanwhile replaced with Tekchand Sawarkar. Bawankule is considered close to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. His wife Jyoti Bawankule has filed nomination from Kamptee as an independent candidate.
In Haryana, which also goes to the polls soon, the story is similar. Resentment has grown within the local party leaders, as several turncoats and recent joinees have been given tickets. Meanwhile, 12 sitting MLAs, including Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav, and ministers Rao Narbir Singh and Vipul Goel were dropped.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said the dissent would be addressed at the organisational level.
(Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar)
Gurugram MLA Umesh Aggarwal, who was replaced by Sudhir Singla, has fielded his wife Anita from the constituency as an independent candidate.
Guhla MLA Kulwant Ram Bazigar was also vocal in expressing his unhappiness. Samalkha MLA Ravinder Machrauli, who joined the BJP ahead of the polls, broke down before his supporters. Machrauli had fought 2014 Assembly elections as an independent candidate.
For the BJP, which has been witnessing a beeline of politicians from other parties and well as public figures joining in, the resentment over turncoats and outsiders being given tickets is not new.
However, riding high on its recent Lok Sabha polls victory, and confident of public support following the recent move of abrogating Article 370, the BJP is not worried about either resentments or distancing allies.
Both Maharashtra and Haryana go to the polls on October 21. The results will be declared on October 24.
While the BJP might have dealt with its alliance woes, there have been reports of resentment within the party for dropping some of the senior leaders and ministers. The party left out, among others, the Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Vinod Tawde, who was once even seen as a Chief Minister probable. He was replaced with Sunil Rane from the Borivali seat. Six times MLA and Minister for Housing, Prakash Mehta, was replaced in Ghatkopar East by Parag Shah. On Friday, the infighting came out in the open as Mehta's supporters vandalised Shah's car when he went to file his nomination.
Muktainagar MLA Eknath Khadse, who had earlier served as Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, was replaced by his daughter Rohini.
Raj Purohit, a senior party leader in the state and six-time MLA was also dropped. Purohit, the sitting MLA from Colaba in South Mumbai, was replaced with Rahul Narvekar, a former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader who recently joined the BJP.
Three-time MLA from Kamptee Assembly constituency in Nagpur district and Minister for Energy Chandrashekhar Bawankule was meanwhile replaced with Tekchand Sawarkar. Bawankule is considered close to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. His wife Jyoti Bawankule has filed nomination from Kamptee as an independent candidate.
In Haryana, which also goes to the polls soon, the story is similar. Resentment has grown within the local party leaders, as several turncoats and recent joinees have been given tickets. Meanwhile, 12 sitting MLAs, including Deputy Speaker Santosh Yadav, and ministers Rao Narbir Singh and Vipul Goel were dropped.
Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said the dissent would be addressed at the organisational level.
(Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal Khattar)
Gurugram MLA Umesh Aggarwal, who was replaced by Sudhir Singla, has fielded his wife Anita from the constituency as an independent candidate.
Guhla MLA Kulwant Ram Bazigar was also vocal in expressing his unhappiness. Samalkha MLA Ravinder Machrauli, who joined the BJP ahead of the polls, broke down before his supporters. Machrauli had fought 2014 Assembly elections as an independent candidate.
For the BJP, which has been witnessing a beeline of politicians from other parties and well as public figures joining in, the resentment over turncoats and outsiders being given tickets is not new.
However, riding high on its recent Lok Sabha polls victory, and confident of public support following the recent move of abrogating Article 370, the BJP is not worried about either resentments or distancing allies.
Both Maharashtra and Haryana go to the polls on October 21. The results will be declared on October 24.
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