Mumbai: After clashes broke out between former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Amalner B S Patil and district party president Uday Wagh and his supporters on April 9, the party is likely to fire Wagh from his post after the Jalgaon Lok Sabha poll on April 18. The political fate of his wife Smita Wagh, who is a member of the Legislative Council (MLC), also seems to be uncertain.
B S Patil was present at a joint Sena-BJP campaign rally at Amalner held on April 9. As supporters of Uday Wagh saw Patil on the dais, they raised slogans against him. This led to a verbal duel between the two sides, which resulted in a physical fight after Wagh and his supporters jumped on the stage and assaulted Patil.
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The entire incident occurred in the presence of cabinet minister Girish Mahajan, who had to physically separate the warring sides. The BJP had replaced outgoing member of Parliament A T Nana Patil from the Jalgaon LS seat with Smita Wagh. However, she too was abruptly replaced by Unmesh Patil, party legislator from Chalisgaon in Jalgaon district.
Upset with the party decision, the Waghs had declared they would not work for the party candidate. Smita Wagh met Gulabrao Devkar, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) candidate and indicated her stand against her party, while her husband Uday decided to teach Patil a lesson by physically assaulting him.
“The party has taken a serious cognisance of the incident. Uday Wagh will be relieved of his post after April 18,” said a party functionary. “Smita Wagh’s term as an MLC ends on April 24, 2020. She too will be removed from the party,” claimed the BJP source.