BJP's Murji Patel files nomination for Andheri East Assembly bypoll

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Murji Patel filed nomination papers on Friday for the November 3 Andheri East Assembly by-election.

He is the joint candidate of the BJP and the Shiv Sena faction headed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Patel had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Assembly polls from the same seat against Shiv Sena's Ramesh Latke, whose death earlier this year necessitated the by-election.

"I am a worker of the BJP and do what the party asks me to do," Patel said before filing his nomination papers here.

In a show of strength, Patel was accompanied by the BJP's Mumbai unit president Ashish Shelar, party MLC Pravin Darekar and MLA Nitesh Rane. Deepak Kesarkar, minister and spokesperson of the Eknath Shinde camp of the Shiv Sena, was also present.

On Thursday, Kesarkar had said that the BJP and the 'Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena' headed by CM Shinde would field a joint candidate for the Assembly bypoll.

From the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena, Rutuja Latke, wife of late MLA Ramesh Latke, filed her nomination paper.