Maharashtra elections: Rebellion in Borivli stays for now, Mumbadevi’s quelled

The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP managed to quell the rebellion by former MLA Atul Shah in the Mumbadevi Assembly constituency but it seems it would have to work harder to placate its former MP Gopal Shetty who filed his nomination in Borivli where the party has placed Sanjay UpadhyayShah was upset because the party didnrsquot think of him despite repeated requests and gave the Mumbadevi segment to Shiv Sena Shinde that fielded BJP leader Shaina NC as its official nominee Shetty has opposed the partyrsquos decision to force yet another outsider on the safest constituencyBJPis yet to convince Gopal Shetty to opt out PicNimesh DaveThis is the third time in succession since 2014 that the BJP has imported candidates for Borivli at the cost of local leaders Shetty was replaced by Vinod Tawde in 2014 Later Sunil Ranersquos entry marked Tawdersquos exit Upadhyay took Ranersquos place This year twotime Mumbai North Lok Sabha MP Shetty was replaced by an outsider Piyush Goyal It is said that Shetty was promised the Borivli Assembly seatlsquoWill not pull outrsquoShetty told midday on Tuesday that he would not withdraw because of injustice meted out to the constituency in terms of imposing an outsider again and again ldquoIrsquom not upset with anyone I may be somewhat aggrieved but that is not an issue My fight is not against the BJP or any individualrdquo he saidWhen asked Shetty said some top BJP leaders had called him in the morning but then he couldnrsquot talk because he was busy in his nomination rally Party insiders said that the senior leaders would attempt to make Shetty consider opting out before November 4 the deadline for withdrawing nominationsA BJP leader from the western suburbs said that Shetty enjoyed popularity to win as an independent ldquoHe will win if he stays in the contest because he had been winning with humongous margins in Borivli be it Assembly or Lok Sabha or corporation elections that began his electoral careerrdquo the leader addedAtul Shah backs outFormer MLA Atul Shah had appealed to his supporters to join him on Tuesday morning to file nomination papers from Mumbadevi where he had lost in 2019 He had demanded a BJP ticket but the party not only gave the Shiv Sena the constituency but also made Shaina NC the allyrsquos candidate This upset ShahSwikruti Sharma filed as an independent in Andheri East PicAnurag AhireHowever Shah cancelled the plan after meeting with the state incharge Union minister Bhupender Yadav and coincharge Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw ldquoI was called to meet with the senior leaders I told my party seniors I was meted out injustice They asked me to reconsider my decision saying that the ally had got Mumbadevi in the seatsharingrdquo he told midday adding ldquoI also realised that it wouldnrsquot be good if I went aheadrdquoIn other segments Shinde Senarsquos new entrant Swikruti Sharma filed her candidature as an independent in Andheri East The wife of former police officer Pradeep Sharma was promised a nomination here by CM Eknath Shinde who didnrsquot leave his claim on the seat but in the end he accepted the BJPrsquos offer to give him its strong aspirant Murji Patel as the candidate Shinde Senarsquos Kunal Sarmalkar has decided to take on NCPrsquos Zeeshan Siddique and Sena UBTrsquos Varun Sardesai in Bandra East Having at least six days at hand to convince the disgruntled in their respective alliances and parties both alliances would have the complete idea of rebellions within their ranks