Mumbai: In an unprecedented turn of events, Maharashtra BJP on Monday announced that Murji Patel, the party’s candidate for Andheri East bypoll, will not contest the election and withdraw from the competition which was being considered as litmus test for the two alliances- BJP-Shind group & MVA. The withdrawal by the BJP’s candidate will make way for a comfortable, perhaps unopposed, victory of Uddhav Thackeray group’s Rutuja Latke.
“In this election Mrs. Rutuja Latke is contesting. We are withdrawing the candidature of BJP’s candidate Murji Patel in order to enable her to get elected,” announced BJP state president Chandrakant Bawankule.
“Murji Patel, the candidate of the alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and RPI (Ramdas Athawale), was contesting on the lotus symbol. We had also filed an application form to contest this by-election. But today it has been decided by central and state leaderships to withdraw the candidature of Murji Patel today,” Mr Bawankule said.
The Andheri East bypoll was necessitated after the demise of Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke. However, the split in Shiv Sena, led by Ekanth Shinde, rocked the Maharashtra politics thereafter and the MVA government fell. After the Andheri East bypoll was announced, both Shinde and Uddhav camp had to submit the symbols and names they wanted for their factions, after the poll body freezed the Shiv Sena name and symbol of bow and arrow.
The BJP-Shinde group had decided to field independent corporator Murji Patel on the BJP ticket, whereas the MVA decided to field Rutuja Latke, wife of late Ramesh Latke, on Shiv Sena (Uddhav) ticket.
(This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available…)
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