On Tuesday, Eknath Khadse’s son Nikhil was defeated by Nationalist Congress Party rebel Manish Jain, who is the son of NCP MP Ishwarlal Jain. Nikhil got 228 votes while Manish managed to get 243.
Miffed with the defeat of leader of the opposition Eknath Khadse’s son Nikhil, allegedly due to poor support from the Shiv Sena in the local self government constituency of Jalgaon, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is make its displeasure known.
On Tuesday, Nikhil was defeated by Nationalist Congress Party rebel Manish Jain, who is the son of NCP MP Ishwarlal Jain. Nikhil got 228 votes while Manish managed to get 243. The official NCP candidate, Anil Choudhary, got only 81 votes. The BJP is angry that the local Sena MLA Sureshdada Jain put his weight behind Manish.
The fact that the polls in 2005 had seen the saffron alliance candidate Gurumukh Jagwani winning the election with 246 votes has only added to this feeling in the BJP camp. Both Sureshdada Jain and Eknath Khadse have tired to project themselves as the leaders of the region and are known arch rivals.
“An election cannot be the platform for personal revenge. Instead of resolving issues, they have gone and defeated the candidate who is our alliance nominee. Sureshdada Jain may have problems with Khadse, but this is not the way to treat us for personal issues,” said state BJP chief Sundhir Munguntiwar.
He said the BJP would meet the Sena leadership and apprise them of its misgivings. “We will demand that a strict warning be given to Jain for his conduct,” Munguntiwar told DNA.
Khadse, sources indicate, may not take this personal affront on home turf quietly. Already, there were murmurs that the BJP may similarly want to play spoilsport when the Sena fights civic elections in Mumbai next year.
“This is not the first time the Shiv Sena has shortchanged us. No wonder there is growing gaggle of voices within the party asking for severance of ties with them. We are trying to ensure that the feeling of mutual trust and respect stays and hope the Sena will also send such a signal down to its cadre,” said a senior BJP leader.
Senior Shiv Sena leader and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “There is a no question of helping other candidates. Our party executive president Uddhav Thackeray had appealed for support for Nikhil,” he said and reminded the BJP.
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