The BJP on Sunday announced the candidates of Sandeep Joshi, Sanjay Kenekar and Dadarao Keche for the March 27 byelections to five seats in the state legislative council. But, the BJP's choice of candidates and snub of senior leader and spokesperson Madhav Bhandari has caught the eye.
Bhandari's son Chinmay Bhandari took to social media to express his displeasure. "My father joined the Jana Sangh, which later became the BJP. In these 50 years, he has helped build organisations in various parts of Maharashtra," Chinmay wrote, stating how he hoped his father would be rewarded in the last stages of his career.
The talk in the political circles is that the list reflects the interest of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Joshi, a former Nagpur Mayor, is a close aide of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Though there were speculations that he would be fielded from Nagpur West in the recent Assembly elections, the BJP did not include him. By fielding him now, Fadnavis has offered him another chance to stay relevant.
Kenekar is the general secretary of the party's state unit and has established himself as the prominent face of BJP in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
As for Dadarao Keche, he is said to have been nominated by Fadnavis as a reward for leaving the Arvi Assembly seat for Sumit Wankhede, CM's OSD, in the 2024 Assembly elections. Though Keche rebelled against the decision, he was pacified by the central leadership, including Amit Shah. Fadnavis reportedly promised Keche the MLC seat then and has not delivered.
NCP, Shiv Sena list today
With the deadline for filing nominations for byelections to the state legislative council ending on Monday, the NCP has reportedly shortlisted three candidates. Though there are too many aspirants, rumours are that the party may choose former Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddiqi.
Zeeshan, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique, candidature was reportedly discussed in the NCP core committee meeting held last week. The Bandra MLA's name was pushed by senior leader Praful Patel who aided in Zeeshan's father Baba Siddique's entry to the party. Patel had promised Baba a seat in MLC and now wants Zeeshan in the role. However, reports are that Ajit Pawar is not too convinced about his candidature as he believes Rajesh Vitekar from Parbhani is a better candidate as he is from Marathwada. There are also opinions that the candidate should be from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The other names doing rounds are Umesh Patil (Solapur) and Sanjay Daund (Beed).
As for Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, former MLC Chandrakant Raghuwanshi (Nandurbar) is a possible name. Other potential candidates in the fray include BMC corporator Sheetal Mhatre and Kiran Pandav from Nagpur.