Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll: Maharashtra CM reaches out to Chintaman Vanaga's kin

MUMBAI: Two days after the wife and two sons of late BJP MP from Palghar Chintaman Vanaga joined the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said that the BJP had decided to give the ticket to Vanaga’s family for the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll and had also informed Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray about the decision.

Fadnavis said that he had spoken to Thackeray towards the end of last month saying the BJP had finalised Vanaga’s son’s name for the bypoll and Sena should help them. “In fact, Thackeray told me that the Sena would not contest bypoll and he will ask Subhash Desai (Sena leader and cabinet minister) to talk to me about this. Desai also spoke to me on May 1 and the next I know on May 3 that Vanaga’s kin joined Sena,” said Fadnavis. The sudden demise of Chintaman Vanaga, who passed away after a heart attack in January, has necessitated the bypoll.

“We have a lot of respect for Chintaman Vanaga as he helped the party increase its reach in Palghar. We only hope that his family members do not do anything which will be a loss to the Vanaga’s contribution to BJP,” said Fadnavis on Saturday on the sidelines of a meeting to prepare for the upcoming agriculture season.

When it was pointed out that Vanaga’s son Srinivas had said that the family was trying to reach Fadnavis since 15 days, before they joined Sena, but was not getting any response from Fadnavis nor the party leaders, the CM said, “There was some miscommunication. In fact, when I received their message saying that they wanted to meet me, I told them to come to my office. I asked my office to give them an appointment. And then all I get to know was that they have joined the Sena,” said Fadnavis.

Fadnavis said that at the local level people told them that the party did not care for them and their family was being ignored, "which is completely untrue".