Rebels give sleepless nights to BJP in Maharashtra

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, April 14

Having fielded candidates poached from the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, the BJP in Maharashtra is now grappling with the problem of several of its leaders turning rebels and threatening the chances of the NDA's official candidates in at least a dozen constituencies.

In four seats, BJP's rebels have refused to withdraw from the fray despite the frantic attempts by party leaders to win them over.

Anil Gote, BJP MLA from Dhule, is contesting against Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre from the Dhule-Malegaon Lok Sabha seat. According to sources in the constituency, both Gote and Bhamre had been at loggerheads over local politics.

In Nandurbar, where Heena Gavit won the last elections after defecting from the NCP, she faces a tough challenge from a local BJP leader Dr Suhas Natavadkar who rebelled against the party to contest as an Independent. More than winning the election for himself, Natavadkar has made it a prestige issue to defeat Gavit. The Congress has fielded KC Padavi from this seat reserved for scheduled tribes.

BJP's decision to ally with the Shiv Sena on the eve of the elections did not go well with BJP leader Manikrao Kokate who was eying the party's ticket for the Nashik Lok Sabha seat. He is contesting against Shiv Sena's sitting MP Hemant Godse. The NCP has fielded Samir Bhujbal, former Member of Parliament and nephew of Chhagan Bhujbal from this seat.

In Shirdi, BJP rebel leader Bhausaheb Wakchure is contesting against the Shiv Sena's official candidate Sadashiv Lokhande. Wakchure has traversed the entire political spectrum from the Congress to the Shiv Sena before joining the BJP some years ago. The Congress has fielded Bhausaheb Kamble in this seat.

In the Jalgaon Lok Sabha seat, the BJP suddenly replaced legislator Smita Wagh with another legislator Unmesh Patil after the former filed her nomination papers. The replacement did not go down well with her supporters and several of them got into fisticuffs with Patil and senior BJP leaders at a party event.

In the Dindori seat reserved for scheduled tribes, the BJP has nominated former NCP leader Bharti Pawar after dumping its sitting MP Harishchandra Chavan who is said to be working against the saffron outfit.

In Ahmednagar, sitting BJP MP Dilip Gandhi who was dumped to accommodate Sujay Vikhe-Patil, son of Leader of the Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil is staying away from the campaign, according to sources.

Reports from many of the seats indicate that the core BJP and RSS workers are staying aloof from the election campaign of the imports letting them fight their own battles.