BJP drops Somaiya after opposition from Shiv Sena

Owing to the pressure from the Shiv Sena, the BJP on Wednesday dropped its sitting MP Dr Kirit Somaiya and named Manoj Kotak to contest from Mumbai North East seat.

In the last five years, r Somaiya, a three-term MP who had in the past also headed the Mumbai BJP, had targeted Shiv Sena and its president Uddhav Thackeray.

The BJP had not been able to declared the candidature among the seats that it is contesting in Maharashtra and finally announced the replacement.

The Sena leadership had made its displeasure known to BJP president Amit Shah, state BJP chief Raosaheb Patil-Danve and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Somaiya is the Gujarati face of BJP in the six seats in Mumbai and had to be replaced by another Gujarati.