Kin of leaders, 81 sitting MLAs dominate BJP’s first list

MUMBAI: Although the ruling Mahayuti alliance is yet to finalise and announce its seat-sharing formula, the BJP on Sunday declared its first list of 99 candidates. The list comprises 71 sitting MLAs and 10 ministers, including deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, as well as other prominent names such as state BJP president Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who was denied a ticket by the party in 2019. Interestingly, a significant number of family members related to MLAs and leaders are being fielded by the party which has always accused certain opposition parties of nepotism.

Apart from Fadnavis, who will contest from the Nagpur South West constituency, the other ministers include revenue minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil from Shirdi, tribal development minister Vijaykumar Gavit from Nandurbar, forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar from Ballarpur, tourism minister Girish Mahajan from Jamner, higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil from Kothrud, skill development minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha from Malabar Hill, PWD minister Ravindra Chavan from Dombivli, housing minister Atul Save from Aurangabad East and Suresh Khade from Miraj.

Other prominent names in the list of 99 candidates include Ganesh Naik from Airoli, Prashant Thakur from Panvel and Nitesh Rane from the Kankavali assembly constituency.

The list is also brimming with the names of family members of BJP leaders and sitting MLAs. Among these are Shreejaya Chavan, daughter of former Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan, who will contest from Bhokar, Sulabha Gaikwad, wife of MLA Ganpat Gaikwad, who will fight from Kalyan East and Pratibha Pachpute, wife of senior leader Babanrao Pachpute, who will fight from Shrigonda. Incidentally, Ganpat Gaikwad was arrested eight months ago for firing on a Shiv Sena MP inside an Ulhasnagar police station.

Other nepo contestants include Vinod Shelar, brother of BJP Mumbai president chief Ashish Shelar, who will take on Congress MLA Aslam Shaikh in Malad West. In Chinchwad constituency, the BJP denied a ticket to sitting MLA Ashwini Jagtap, widow of its late MLA Laxman Jagtap and gave the ticket to his brother Shankar Jagtap instead. For the Ichalkaranji constituency, the party has chosen Rahul Awade, son of sitting MLA Prakash Awade, while in Raver, Amol Jawale, son of former MP Haribhau Jawale, has been given a ticket.

When asked about the ‘parivarwad’ or nepotism inherent in the list, BJP spokesperson and MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar staunchly denied it. “Although some candidates belong to the families of sitting MLAs or party leaders, they were not selected just because they belong to political families,” he claimed. “They have been given tickets because they have actively worked for the party for the last many years and proved their merit. There is no question of ‘pariwarwad’ in the BJP.”

The party has also decided to rehabilitate some of its leaders who lost the assembly elections in 2019. They are former MLA Amal Mahadik from Kolhapur South, Atul Bhosale from Karad South, Ram Shinde from Karjat-Jamkhed and Sanjay Puram from Amgaon. Bhosale is expected to contest against former CM and MLA Prithviraj Chavan while Shinde will fight against Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew, MLA Rohit Pawar.

Rajesh Bakane, who lost as an independent in 2019, has got a ticket for the Deoli constituency and is expected to fight against Congress MLA Ranjit Kamble. The party has also given a ticket to sitting independent MLA Mahesh Baldi from Uran. As Phulambri MLA Haribhau Bagade was appointed governor of Rajasthan, the BJP has given a ticket to Anuradha Chavan, who has held positions in local bodies in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

The party has chosen to repeat most of its sitting MLAs from Mumbai. It has named Ashish Shelar (Bandra West), Rahul Narwekar (Colaba), Kalidas Kolambkar (Wadala), Captain R Tamil Selvan (Sion-Koliwada), Ram Kadam (Ghatkopar West), Parag Alvani (Vile Parle), Vidya Thakur (Goregaon), Yogesh Sagar (Charkop), Atul Bhatkhalkar (Kandivali East), Mihir Kotecha (Mulund), Manisha Chaudhary (Dahisar) and Ameet Satam (Andheri West).

However, there are several MLAs who could not find their names in the first list. Among them are Sunil Rane (Borivali), Parag Shah (Ghatkopar East), Bharati Lavekar (Versova) from Mumbai.

The total number of BJP MLAs elected in the 2019 assembly elections was 105, but two MLAs—Rajendra Patni (Karanja) and Gowardhan Sharma (Akola West)—died before the Lok Sabha elections, bringing down the number to 103. Among these, the names of 81 sitting MLAs are in the first list of 99 candidates. However, there is a cloud of suspense hanging over the political future of the remaining 22 MLAs.

Fadnavis and Bawankule took to social media to thank the party’s national leadership, for giving them tickets and expressed gratitude to their constituents and the people of Maharashtra. While Fadnavis congratulated Bawankule, the state BJP chief, who was denied a ticket in the last assembly elections noted that he was elected to the assembly three times and the legislative council once and thanked his voters.