‘BJP keen I contest Nashik but I won’t on lotus symbol’
MUMBAI: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Thursday said the Mahayuti leadership is keen that he fight the Lok Sabha election from Nashik but denied reports saying he had been asked do contest under the BJP’S electoral symbol.
“There is no truth in the report that BJP has asked me to fight under the lotus symbol. The reports are baseless. But it is true that the BJP leadership wants me to contest from Nashik. They have intimated this to my party leaders (deputy chief minister) Ajit Pawar and Praful Patel. I cannot reveal more than this,” Bhujbal told reporters on Thursday.
The Nashik Lok Sabha seat has remained a bone of contention among partners in the ruling Mahayuti alliance. Its sitting MP Hemant Godse, who belongs to the Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena, began campaigning for his re-election even though the decision on seatsharing among the allies was pending.
The BJP is opposed to Godse’s candidature owing to some negative reports and has
JARANGE-PATIL WARNED THAT IF BHUJBAL FOUGHT ELECTIONS FROM NASHIK, HE WOULD BE TAUGHT A LESSON
been trying to convince the Sena to give up its claim over the seat.
On Thursday, reports emerged saying that BJP leadership had asked Bhujbal to contest from Nashik as their candidate. Later in the evening, Bhujbal denied these reports and insisted that no such condition was put forth by the BJP.
Meanwhile, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-patil warned that if Bhujbal fought elections from Nashik, he would be taught a lesson for criticising the Maratha quota stir.