A meeting between newly inducted BJP member Pravin Chheda, said to be one of the contenders for the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday raised eyebrows in political circles. The Sena has opposed ally Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) proposal to renominate MP Kirit Somaiya for the seat.
Despite announcing candidates for most other Parliament seats in the State, the BJP has not nominated anyone from Mumbai North East. Mr. Somaiya won the seat in 2014 by defeating the Nationalist Congress Party’s Sanjay Dina Patil.
Before the Sena-BJP alliance was formed, Mr. Somaiya had made allegations of corruption against Mr. Thackeray. The Sena is thus vehemently against Mr. Somaiya’s candidature. On Tuesday, Sena members again opposed Mr. Somaiya’s name during a joint meeting at Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s residence.
Due the pressure from the Sena, Union Minister Piyush Goyal, BJP group leader in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Manoj Kotak, BJP corporator Parag Shah and Mr. Chheda are rumoured to be in consideration for the seat.
Mr. Chheda’s call on Matoshree, gave rise to speculation that he was seeking Mr. Thackeray’s approval for his nomination. Both the Sena and Mr. Chheda, however, dismissed it as a courtesy visit. “The visit was due for a long time… It was a courtesy call and nothing else was discussed,” Mr. Chheda said.
A senior Sena leader told The Hindu, “We are opposed to Somaiya and will continue to be. If he is replaced, we will be happy. But who he is replaced by is not for us to decide. That is up to them.”
Mr. Somaiya’s son Neil said to The Hindu, “My father is calm and composed. Whatever the decision is, we will know in a few days.”