Sena fields Shrinivas Wanga for Palghar Lok Sabha bypoll

The Shiv Sena has decided to nominate Shrinivas Wanga, the son of late BJP leader Chintaman Wanga, for the by-election to the Palghar (Scheduled Tribe) Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

The bypoll to the seat in the neighbouring Palghar district has been necessitated due to the death of sitting MP Chintaman Wanga in January this year.

The byelection will be held on May 28 and the counting will take place on May 30.

The late BJP MP's family joined the Shiv Sena last week.

Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said today that party chief Uddhav Thackeray has decided to nominate Shrinivas Wanga for the bypoll.

"When they (Chintaman Wanga's family) joined the Shiv Sena, they did so not only as a support to our Hindutva agenda, but also to the development plank on which the Sena is fighting elections," she told PTI.

After the late BJP leader's kin joined the Shiv Sena, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the family had some "misunderstanding".

Reacting to it, Kayande said if the BJP was keen on nominating a member of the Wanga family, it could have done so long back.

"The chief minister's talk about misunderstanding sounds hollow," she said.

Apart from the Palghar seat, the bypoll to the Bhandara-Gondia Lok Sabha constituency in the state will also be held on May 28.

The BJP has not yet declared its nominees for the two seats.

As per a poll pact between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the former will contest the Palghar seat while the latter will field its candidate in Bhandara-Gondia.

However, the parties have not yet announced their respective candidates.