Fadnavis declares Shrikant Shinde’s candidature from Kalyan

Thane/Nagpur: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s son, Dr. Shrikant Shinde, a two-time sitting MP and orthopaedic surgeon-turned-politician, will be contesting the Kalyan seat in Thane district near Mumbai.

The BJP has claimed the twin seats of Kalyan and Thane, both strongholds of the Shindes, leading to a rift among the allies. The Thane seat was the bastion of the undivided Shiv Sena. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP was also keen on contesting the Thane seat.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded sitting MP Rajan Vichare for the Thane seat, and for Kalyan, it has nominated Vaishali Darekar-Rane, a long-standing Shiv Sainik active in the politics of Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation.

Interestingly, the announcement of Dr. Shrikant Shinde’s candidacy was not made by Eknath Shinde, the chief leader of Shiv Sena, but by BJP's Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

“Dr. Shrikant Shinde is the Maha Yuti candidate. We are with Dr. Shrikant Shinde. There is no opposition to him. We all will work for him and get him elected with a much larger margin than last time,” Fadnavis told reporters after the BJP foundation day function in Nagpur.

Fadnavis denied that there was any opposition to the candidature of Shinde's son.

Reacting to the development, Shinde aide and Shiv Sena chief spokesperson Naresh Mhaske said: “Dr. Shrikant Shinde has worked hard in the last 10 years. He has been an ideal MP and showed how an MP should work. He will win again because of the work that he has done.”

BJP minister and local MLA Ravindra Chavan said: “We will ensure that Dr. Shrikant Shinde wins with a bigger margin than last time.”