Maharashtra education minister Dr Vijaykumar Gavit dropped after daughter joins BJP

The inevitable has happened. State education minister and senior tribal leader of the NCP, Dr Vijaykumar Gavit, was dropped from the cabinet after his daughter Dr Heena Gavit was given a ticket by the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Nandurbar. The NCP had repeatedly warned him against flirting with the BJP, but Gavit did not pay heed.

Sources close to the minister told dna late on Wednesday that he has already put in his papers. Dr Vijaykumar, however, remained unavailable for comment.

Once it was confirmed that Heena had formally joined the BJP in Delhi and would contest the polls from Nandurbar, the NCP asked chief minister Prithviraj Chavan to drop Gavit from the cabinet. Chavan, in turn, sent the recommendation to the governor, as is the norm. Sources in the governor's office told dna on Wednesday that the process of removing Gavit from the cabinet has begun.

The Gavit family wields immense influence in the Nandurbar area and the NCP top brass had warned the tribal leader against cosying up to the BJP. However, warnings from senior NCP leaders, including deputy CM Ajit Pawar, fell on deaf ears.

The move is likely to hurt the NCP as Vijaykumar had managed to make a base for himself and Sharad Pawar's party in Nandurbar. Vijaykumar has been a long-time opponent of Union minister of state Manikrao Gavit in Nandurbar, traditionally a Congress bastion. By roping in Heena, the BJP has ensured a tough fight against Congress's Manikrao, who has been getting elected from the same constituency since 1981. "She is very articulate and will keep the Congress loyalist on his toes," said a BJP leader.

"He (Vijaykumar) has nothing to lose as the present government's term is coming to an end and the BJP-led NDA will form the next government. Therefore, he will only benefit in the future. He may himself join the BJP if he is removed from the party," said another senior BJP leader.

It is not the first time that the Gavit family is involved in a multi-party situation. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the minister fielded his brother Sharad as a Samajwadi Party candidate against Manikrao. Though Sharad lost that year, he won the subsequent assembly poll.

Earlier, the state cabinet had refused to give permission to prosecute Dr Vijaykumar Gavit in an alleged scam in Nandurbar.