Maha: BJP rebel who won from Mira Bhayandar meets BVA chief

Geeta Jain, a BJP rebel who won from the Mira Bhayandar seat in the October 21 Maharashtra Assembly polls, on Sunday met Bahujan Vikas Aghadi chief and Vasai MLA Hitendra Thakur.

Thakur's BVA is among the strongest parties in the Mira Road-Dahanu stretch, lying to the north of Mumbai, and the meeting, which lasted for over two hours, gave rise to speculation on Jain's next move.

Thakur's son Kshitij, who defeated policeman-turned- Shiv Sena leader Pradeep Sharma from Nalasopara Assembly seat, was also present during the meeting.

Jain, a BJP leader and former mayor of Mira-Bhayander township, was denied a ticket by the party which reposed faith in sitting MLA Narendra Mehta in the Assembly polls.

Jain defeated Mehta by 15,535 votes, and, her victory rally after the results, incidentally, had a sizable number of local workers waving BJP flags.

Jain, however, downplayed the meeting and said it was a "courtesy call to wish Hitendra and Kshitij Thakur and to thank them for help during the polls".

On being asked about a possible return to the BJP, Jain claimed she had not got the time after the poll victory to sit down and think over it.

The BJP returned a less-than-impressive performance in the assembly polls, results of which were declared on October 24, with 105 seats against 122 in 2014.