Mumbai: The Maharashtra BJP on Wednesday refuted senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde’s claim that he was made an offer to join the ruling party.
Senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde said Shinde’s claim may have come after he sensed the little chances he had of winning from Solapur in the April-May Lok Sabha polls. “We have not made any offer to him. It only shows how eager he is to join the BJP. He may have sensed there is little chance of him winning from Solapur so he may have made such a claim,” Tawde, also state Education minister, told reporters.
Shinde, who has been Maharashtra chief minister and Union minister earlier, lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Solapur to the BJP’s Sharad Bansode. This time, Shinde is up against BJP’s Jaysiddheshwar Swami, a Lingayat spiritual leader, and the Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh’s Prakash Ambedkar. Speaking on the BJP not announcing a candidate for the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seat as yet, Tawde said a list of names had been submitted to the party’s central leadership for finalisation.
The seat is held by BJP’s Kirit Somaiya but his strident attacks on the Shiv Sena and its chief Uddhav Thackeray has created hurdles in his renomination. The Sena is upset with Somaiya and workers have stated they would not campaign for Somaiya if ally BJP renominates him.
