14 March,2024 06:45 AM IST | Mumbai | Dharmendra Jore
Gopal Shetty dropped from the list, Piyush Goyal to contest from Mumbai North, Manoj Kotak dropped from the list, Mihir Kotecha to contest from Mum North-East
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The BJP has dropped some sitting Maharashtra MPs, including two from Mumbai. The party published its second list of Lok Sabha candidates on Thursday, even before the seat-sharing with its allies has been finalised. Two-time MP, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has been repeated in Nagpur. Notable among the dropped leaders are Gopal Shetty from Mumbai North and Manoj Kotak from Mumbai North-East.
Union Minister and city's son, Piyush Goyal, has replaced Shetty, while Mihir Kotecha has replaced Kotak. Four remaining segments of the city are still being discussed between the BJP and Shinde Sena. Goyal has been a Rajya Sabha member, and will be contesting his first Lok Sabha election. He has been given the most secure constituency that has given the BJP a record-winning margin. Kotecha, a Gujarati, has received a segment that has been meticulously cultivated by the BJP and has a strong Gujarati following.
Pankaja Munde and Nitin Gadkari
Among the new faces is Smita Wagh, a former MLA from Jalgaon, where Unmesh Patil had won in 2019. Anup Dhotre replaced his father Sanjay Dhotre in Akola. Sitting minister in the state Sudhir Mungantiwar will be the party's face to retain Chandrapur, which it lost in 2019 to the Congress. Chandrapur had given the Congress its only seat in the Lok Sabha from Maharashtra.
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Two-time MP Dr Pritam Munde has made way for her elder sister Pankaja from Beed. This in-family arrangement has come about because the BJP tied up with the NCP (Ajit Pawar), which holds the Beed Assembly constituency. Pankaja's cousin Dhananjay is the NCP's MLA from Beed. It was unlikely for the NCP to vacate the seat for Pankaja, who had lost to the cousin in 2019.
In Pune, where the late Girish Bapat represented the party in 2019, former mayor Muralidhar Mohol is the party's new candidate. By-polls weren't held in Pune and Chandrapur despite the death of sitting MPs. Most MPs who had won in the arena during the 2014 Modi wave and retained their seats in 2019 have been given yet another chance. Among such MPs are Dr Heena Gavit (Nandurbar-ST), Subhash Bhamre (Dhule), Raksha Khadse (Raver), Ramdas Tadas (Wardha), Union Minister of State Kapil Patil (Bhiwandi), Sanjaykaka Patil (Sangli), and Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur).
Union Minister of State Raosaheb Danve, who has remained undefeated since 1999, will be the party's Jalna candidate yet again. Union Minister of State Dr Bharti Pawar (Dindori-ST) and Prataprao Chikhalikar (Nanded) will be seen in the contest again. In Ahmednagar, the winner of 2019, Dr Sujay Vikhe Patil, has been repeated. In Latur-SC, sitting MP Sudhakar Shringare has been given another opportunity. Ranjeetsinh Naik-Nimbalrkar, who had dented the NCP citadel of Madha in 2019, has been fielded again from here, which Sharad Pawar had represented.
2
No of MPs dropped from Mumbai
