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Niranjan Takle
Niranjan Takle

BMC POLLS

BJP leaders pay no heed to Modi's appeal to end dynasty politics

BJP (File) Representational image

The BJP leaders in Maharashtra seems to have scant regard for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent appeal that they shouldn't insist tickets for their relatives in the upcoming BMC polls.

Kirit Somaiya, BJP MP from Mumbai, has managed to get ticket for his son Neel Somaiya from Mulund constituency and has demanded ticket for his wife from Dadar constituency. Claiming that his son got a ticket because he has talents required for being a corporator, Somaiya said he wants his wife to contest the polls “because Dadar has been a bastion of Shiv Sena for decades. Who else dares to take on Shiv Sena in Dadar?”

Somaiya is not the only one who got a ticket for one of his relatives. BJP MLA Raj Purohit has succeeded in securing ticket for his Awakash from Mumbadevi constituency and Minister of State for Women and Child Development Vidya Thakur managed to get ticket for her son Deepak Thakur from Goregaon. Another BJP MLA, Sardar Tara Singh, too has demanded ticket for his son Ranjit. “Why should Ranjit not get a ticket when everyone else is getting tickets for their sons,” he said.

Besides, the BJP, with the intention of ending Shiv Sena's supremacy in BMC polls, is offering tickets to those joining the party.

The Shiv Sena too has been giving tickets to family members of its leaders. Samadhan Sarvankar, son of Sena MLA Sada Sarvankar will be contesting from Prabhadevi. Many other Sena corporators have demanded tickets for their wives for constituencies that are reserved for women candidates.

Nawab Malik, NCP spokesperson said, “BJP is hypocrite. They blame the Congress and NCP for dynasty politics. But when it happens in the BJP, they conveniently call it as deserving dynasty.”

Many BJP and Sena loyalists too are unhappy with this dynasty politics. Shiv Sainiks in Wadala and Hindmata areas went to the extent of locking party offices in these areas. One of the office bearers of Mumbai BJP had leaked the list of its 72 candidates much before the official announcement with the apparent intention of exposing the dynasty politics in the party.

“This is a bad side effect of digitisation. Someone took out the list from our computer,” Ashish Shelar, Mumbai BJP president, had said.

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Topics : #Maharashtra

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