Mumbai: All is not well in BJP's Maharashtra unit which is still struggling to recover from the loss of power after assembly elections in the state. Factionalism surfaced in BJP, which claims to be the party with the difference. Supporters of former ministers Eknath Khadse and Girish Mahajan reached Bhusaval in north Maharashtra on Friday over the appointment of the party's local unit chief and also over the appointment of Jalgaon district President.
Ironically, the incident took place in the presence of the Union Minister Raosaheb Danve and Mahajan. Today's incident took place a week after Khadse and Mahajan had joined hands together to win the Jalgaon Zilla Parishad President and Vice President posts. However, it once again proved that BJP's Jalgaon unit is a divided house.
During the scuffle, some workers blackened the face of the party's Jalgaon district General Secretary Sunil Neve. A section of workers were angry with Neve, as they felt he sidelined loyal workers and appointed Dinesh Nemade, who belonged to his faction, as Bhusaval unit chief.
Mahajan intervened with an appeal to both the groups to stay cool. He said the party has taken a serious note of today's incident and disciplinary action will be initiated soon against those involved in the scuffle. After pacifying the warring groups, Danve announced the appointment of former legislator Haribhau Jawale as the Jalgaon district President as a consensus candidate.
A similar scuffle took place between two groups of BJP in Jalgaon during the Lok Sabha election. The strife took place after the BJP replaced its candidate from the Jalgaon Lok Sabha seat in northern Maharashtra at the eleventh hour. The BJP candidate and ex-MLA BS Patil, who was campaigning in Jalgaon for the Lok Sabha elections, clashed with Jalgaon district President Uday Wagh. Mahajan, who was the minister in the previous BJP led government, was also hurt during the scuffle.
