The Maharashtra BJP is yet to find a suitable candidate for the byelection to the Legislative Council seat, which fell vacant after senior party leader Gopinath Munde’s estranged nephew resigned and joined NCP. Dhananjay Munde will now be a candidate of the NCP.
Mr Dhananjay Mune quit BJP and also resigned his Upper House seat and joined the Sharad Pawar-led party last month. The election to fill the vacant seat has been slated for September 2, but BJP is yet to announce its nominee.
“We are in search of a suitable candidate. BJP will contest the election. The last date of filing nominations is August 23 and we will announce our nominee before that,” leader of Opposition in Legislative Council and BJP member Vinod Tawde said.
Mr Dhananjay Mune will contest the byelection of the state Council as an NCP candidate. In the Assembly, the Congress-NCP alliance has a majority with 82 and 62 members of each party respectively. So, it’s very likely that Mr Dhananjay Munde will defeat the Opposition party’s candidate with the support of the Congress.
According to sources, Mr Dhananjay Mune had got an assurance from the NCP that the party will re-elect him in the state Council. However, the NCP is yet to make an official announcement about his candidature.
Mr Dhananjay Munde, while joining the NCP, had stated that he would serve the party in whatever capacity he is asked to. He was elected to the Council from the Legislative Assembly quota and three years of his tenure were left.
He wanted to contest the Parli Assembly seat in 2009, but his uncle Mr Gopinath Munde chose his daughter Pankaja and sent his nephew to the Upper House to mollify him. Parli in the Marathwada region is a part of the Beed Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by Mr Gopinath Mune.