Shiv Sena to contest 3rd Council seat solo

MUMBAI: In a move that may further widen the rift in the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in the state, the Sena on Sunday fielded another candidate from Parbhani, Vipul Bajoria, for the Legislative Council polls.

A delegation of Sena leaders from Palghar also met Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday afternoon, requesting him to contest the upcoming Palghar Lok Sabha bypolls. The seat, which is in the BJP’s quota, has been vacant since the death of BJP MP Chintaman Vanaga.  

Earlier, the Sena has announced the nomination of Narendra Darade and Rajeev Sable for the Nashik and Konkan Legislative Council polls, respectively. So, the party will contest all the three Council polls seats.

Elections will be held in Raigad-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg, Nashik, Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, Parbhani-Hingoli-Amravati, Osmanabad and Beed-Latur constituencies where members of Councils and zilla parishads will exercise their franchise.

The term of Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Sunil Tatkare and Jayant Jadhav, Congress' Abdullah Khan Latif Khan Durani and Dilip Deshmukh, and the BJP's Mitesh Bhangadia and Pravin Pote are set to expire.

“The party has already taken the decision of contesting the polls alone. The decision is as per the resolution and hence Mr Uddhav has approved the name,” a Sena leader said.

If the Sena decides to contest the Palghar Lok Sabha seat, the party will come in direct confrontation with the BJP.

The rift between the two parties has widened in the past few months over several issues, the latest disagreement being over the Nanar refinery project.

The Sena has opposed the project in the Konkan region whereas the BJP has firmly backed it. Mr Thackeray had also lashed out at the BJP on several other decisions and expressed unhappiness over the government's performance. Recently, Mr Thackeray took a dig at chief minister  Fadnavis, saying that the state needs a full time home minister to handle the law-and-order situation.