Maharashtra Election: 'Independent candidate from Borivali Gopal Shetty will not harm party', says BJP
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Gopal Shetty, who won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat by margins of more than four lakh in 2014 and 2019, was denied a ticket in the 2024 general elections. The seat was won by senior BJP leader Piyush Goyal, who is now Union minister.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Maharashtra's BJP leadership has claimed that former MP and independent candidate from Boriavali, Gopal Shetty will not do anything that will harm the party.
"I will never leave BJP. Gopalji Shetty has given this testimony after meeting Devendra Fadnavis and Shivprakash that he will not do anything that will harm the party," BJP National General Secretary Vinod Tawde said on X.
This comes days after Shetty rebelled against his party and announced that he would contest as an independent candidate for the Borivali seat, following BJP's denial of a ticket from that assembly seat. BJP has announced Sanjay Upadhyay as its official candidate from Borivali.
BJP will be successful in making everyone understand: Devendra Fadnavis
Earlier, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis said that the rebels are also their people and exuded confidence that the party will be successful in making everyone understand.
"They (rebels) are also our own people, it is our duty to make them understand, sometimes there is a lot of anger but they have formed their mindset in the larger interest of the party, I am confident that we will be successful in making everyone understand," Fadnavis said.
Veteran BJP leader and two-time MP Gopal Shetty rebels
Earliet, two-time Mumbai North Lok Sabha MP Gopal Shetty on October 28 said he will file his nomination papers from Borivali assembly seat after his name did not figure in the fourth list of candidates announced by the BJP. Shetty, a veteran of the Mumbai north region, was MLA from Borivali in 2004 and 2009. He was also a corporator from the area for several years.
In its fourth list, the BJP named Sanjay Upadhyay as its candidate from Borivali. A visibly disappointed Shetty said he would file his nomination papers as an Independent on Tuesday.
"I have been a loyal party worker for a very long time. Today, I went to help four BJP candidates to file their nomination papers. However, when the list was announced, I was dejected to see that I had not been fielded. The issue is not that I have not been given a ticket, the issue is that the candidate must have been a local BJP worker from Borivali," Shetty said.
"My supporters have stood by me for 35 years. They told me to listen to them (and contest). First Vinod Tawde contested from here in 2014, then Sunil Rane in 2019. This time, the Lok Sabha ticket from Mumbai North was given to Piyush Goyal. This is happening for the fourth time with Upadhyay being nominated," he pointed out.
Poll preparations by Mahayuti and MVA
Meanwhile, both the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)- comprising the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), and Congress- have intensified their preparations for the upcoming elections to 288 Assembly seats in the State.
The BJP is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance alongside the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. In the upcoming assembly polls, the Baramati constituency in Maharashtra will again witness a family battle as NCP leader Ajit Pawar will face his nephew Yugendra Pawar. He is the son of Ajit Pawar's younger brother Shrinivas Pawar.
Earlier, Baramati witnessed a high-profile battle in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when Sunetra Pawar contested against Supriya Sule. The latter won the contest by 1.5 lakh votes.
Maharashtra elections will be held in a single phase on November 20 with counting of votes held on November 23. In the 2019 assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.