BJP’s Narendra Pawar files nomination as Independent

THANE: BJP MLA Narendra Pawar on Friday filed his nomination as an Independent candidate after the party gave his Kalyan (West) seat to the Shiv Sena under seat exchange formula in alliance. His rally before filing the nomination witnessed a huge crowd of BJP workers, who came with BJP flags. Pawar, who since childhood has been associated with RSS and Jansangh, was unhappy after he was denied a party ticket and the seat was given to the Shiv Sena. The Sena city unit president, Vishwanath Bhoir, filed his nomination from here. During the nomination process, Pawar had a bigger number of his supporters than Bhoir, a bigger worry for the Shiv Sena. Likewise, in Kalyan (East) constituency, a huge crowd of supporters was seen during the nomination filing of Shiv Sena rebel Dhananjay Borade, who filed his papers as an Independent candidate against BJP’s Ganpat Gaikwad. In Borade’s rally, as many as 26 corporators from Sena, three BJP corporators and over a thousand supporters of both the parties were present. Borade, a four-time corporator from the party is also the opposition leader in the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation. Talking to the media, Borade claimed he is fighting against Gaikwad because for the last 10 years, he is an MLA, but he did nothing for development in the area. Both the candidates refused to withdraw their nomination from the seat, making it an interesting fight.