Battleground Palghar: Shiv Sena, BJP face-off in LS bypoll

Bickering allies the BJP and the Shiv Sena are heading for an electoral showdown in Maharashtra's Palghar Lok Sabha constituency where bypoll will be held on May 28.

The BJP won the Palghar (ST) constituency, adjoining Mumbai, in 2014, but the death of its sitting MP Chintaman Wanga early this year necessitated the by-election.

The Shiv Sena has fielded Chintaman Wanga's son Shrinivas Wanga from the seat, while the BJP has nominated former Congress leader Rajendra Gavit, minutes after he joined the saffron party.

In a setback to the BJP, Shrinivas Wanga and other members of his family joined the Uddhav Thackeray-led party last week.

Shrinivas Wanga today submitted his nomination papers to election officials. He was accompanied by senior Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde.

On the other hand, Gavit, a former Congress MLA and minister, today joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the party's state president Raosaheb Danve.

Later, Fadnavis and Danve announced the nomination of Gavit, a tribal leader, as the BJP candidate from Palghar.

Besides Palghar, another Lok Sabha constituency in the state, Bhandara-Gondia, will witness bypoll on May 28. The bypoll has been necessitated following the resignation of sitting BJP MP Nana Patole.

Patole quit the BJP and also his Lok Sabha seat after accusing the NDA government of following "anti-farmer" policies.

On Gavit's joining the BJP, Fadnavis said, "We were in touch with Rajendra Gavit for a long time, but he could not join the BJP before the October 2014 assembly elections."
Commenting on further strain in the BJP-Sena ties over the Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll, Fadnavis said, "What they did is very unfortunate. We did not field any candidate against the Shiv Sena in the recently held by-election to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)."