Some heavyweights from the Bharatiya Janata Party, including former ministers Eknath Khadse and Prakash Mehta and present Cabinet minister for Higher Education Vinod Tawde and Cabinet minister for Energy Chandrashekhar Bawankule have not found place in the party's first list of 125 nominees announced on Tuesday for the state Assembly election. These leaders expect their names in the strategic second list which is expected to be released on Wednesday.
The party has renominated 92 sitting legislators and dropped nine.
Kothrud MLA Medha Kulkarni, however, has been given the elbow to accommodate state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, who is also the Cabinet minister for Revenue and Public Works. In Mulund, sitting MLA Sardar Tara Singh has been replaced by Mihir Kotecha.
Khadse, who had resigned as Revenue minister from the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis following allegations of corruption and misuse of office, had filed his nomination from Muktainagar constituency in Jalgaon district amid much fanfare.
He has been elected from the constituency successively since 1990 and found out from the media that his name is missing from the first list.
Whether this has anything to do with his recent public gaffe is anyone's guess.
Missing In First List
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- Eknath Khadse: Resigned as Revenue minister following graft allegations. Last week, said NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s name was never mentioned in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam when he was leader of opposition
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- Vinod Tawde: Lost School Education and Sports in March. Earlier, Medical Education was taken from him
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- Prakash Mehta: Party’s Gujarati face. Dropped as Housing minister in March
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- Chandrashekhar Bawankule: May be moved from Kamthi to another seat. Has won from former in 2004, 2009 and 2014
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In a major embarrassment to his party, Khadse said last week that the Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar's name was never mentioned in the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam when he was following it as leader of opposition. The BJP's OBC face was once believed to be a contender for the CM's post.
Mehta was dropped by the Chief Minister as the Housing minister in March as he had been under opposition fire since 2017 for allegedly allocating additional building rights to a developer illegally in a slum redevelopment project. Mehta was instrumental in building the party's base among Mumbai's Gujarati population.
Tawde, one-time leader of Opposition in the state council, was elected from the Borivali in 2014. The Maratha leader from Konkan had nursed an ambition for the CM's post. However, Fadnavis clipped his wings during the cabinet reshuffle in March, in which Tawde lost the departments of School Education and Sports to former Mumbai unit chief Ashish Shelar. Earlier, Medical Education was taken from him and given to Fadnavis' close confidant, Girish Mahajan.
Party insiders said Bawankule's name has been held back as he may be moved from Kamthi constituency (Nagpur district) to another seat. Bawankule, who has been elected since 2004, 2009 and 2014 from Kamthi seat, has been a close associate of Union minister of Roads and Highways Nitin Gadkari.
The shuffling other spots includes Udaysinh Padvi being replaced by son Rajesh, Sudhakar Kohale by Madan Makte in Nagpur South, Raju Todsam by Sandeep Durve in Arni, former minister Vishu Savra by son Hemant in Vikramgad, former minister Dilip Kamble by brother Sunil in Pune Cantonment, Vijay Kale by Siddharth Shinde in Shivajinagar and RT Deshmukh by Ramesh Adaskar in Majalgaon.
OFF THE ROLLS
| Kothrud |
MLA Medha Kulkarni replaced by Chandrakant Patil |
| Mulund |
Sitting MLA Sardar Tara Singh replaced by Mihir Kotecha |
| Shahada |
Udaysinh Padvi replaced by son Rajesh |
| Nagpur South |
Sudhakar Kohale by Madan Makte
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| Arni |
Raju Todsam by Sandeep Durve |
| Vikramgad |
Vishu Savra by son Hemant |
| Pune Cantonment |
Dilip Kamble by brother Sunil |
| Shivajinagar |
Vijay Kale by Siddharth Shinde
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| Majalgaon |
RT Deshmukh by Ramesh Adaskar |
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 "Eknath Khadse, Prakash Mehta, Vinod Tawde, Chandrashekhar Bawankule")
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