As nomination ends, BJP goes into damage-control mode to placate aspirants denied party ticket

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, BJP had dropped sitting MP Poonam Mahajan from Mumbai North Central constituency and instead, fielded noted lawyer Ujjwal Nikkam. (File Photo)

With just two weeks to go for the municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, state BJP president Ravindra Chavan on Thursday announced that the party has appointed former MP Poonam Mahajan as poll-incharge for Vasai-Virar municipal corporations.

The party’s decision comes shortly after BJP member Kripa Shankar Singh made the statement that the next mayor in Vasai-Virar could be from the North Indian community. After facing backlash from within the organization, Singh explained that he did not mean to show any disrespect to the Marathi community and that his statement was misconstrued.

Senior BJP minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said, “When a party is winning, the number of aspirants also multiply manifold and we have to accommodate them in the given number of seats. However, the BJP is not like other parties. They keep aside their disappointment and get back to work.”

To contain in-house dissent over disbursement of tickets for the municipal corporation polls, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has decided to do damage control to placate the candidates who were denied party ticket or are unhappy with alliances.

At the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, the local BJP candidates ghearoed minister Atul Save and BJP MP Bhagwat Karad. Their efforts to placate angry aspirants failed.

Similarly, the infighting within the district unit came in full public view with senior leader Devyani Pharande expressing disappointment with the party over the selection of ‘outsiders’ in certain wards. Senior minister Girish Mahajan, who has been made the incharge of Nashik district, said, “Maximum preference has been given to BJP candidates. In very few cases, candidates who joined BJP from other parties were accomodated on merit.”

In Thane, the BJP has put out in writing its displeasure over its alliance with the Shiv Sena. The Thane BJP wanted to contest elections alone. But the central leadership and top state leaders took a pragmatic approach not to antagonise its ally Shiv Sena.

According to political managers, BJP wanted an alliance with the Shiv Sena in Mumbai to effectively counter the Thackerays (Uddhav and Raj) on Marathi and Mumbai plank. To avoid division of votes, it insisted on having an alliance with Shiv Sena in Mumbai. However, Shinde drove a hard bargain by linking the Mumbai alliance with Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli. As a result, despite opposition from the local unit, the BJP had to concede Shinde’s demand in Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli with respectable number of seats.

Chavan, along with senior ministers and office-bearers, is also reaching out to local units where issues are cropping up after filing nomination forms for the upcoming civic polls. ” We don’t see any problem. Everything is fine in party. We are going to win,” said Chavan.