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Lok Sabha elections 2019: Lone MNS MLA joins Shiv Sena, CM stops Kakade from joining Congress
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Raosaheb Danve, held a series of meetings with the party’s district-level leadership on Monday.
A day after the election dates were announced, political circles witnessed a flurry of activities – from giving entry to turncoats to convincing a party leader not to quit.
Sharad Sonawane, the lone Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MLA from Junnar in Pune, defected to the Shiv Sena. He joined the party in presence of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai. Sonawane was upset with the functioning of MNS for the past few months. According to Sena leaders, Sonawane had met Thackeray last week to inform him about the plan to come into the Sena-fold. Sonawane was earlier with the Sena, but joined the MNS before the 2014 Assembly elections. His entry assumes significance, as the party faces a tough contest to retain its Lok Sabha seats in Pune district – Shirur and Maval.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Raosaheb Danve, held a series of meetings with the party’s district-level leadership on Monday. The meetings were to brief the party’s local leadership in every district on the party’s publicity, funding, campaign mechanism and take feedback on the party’s on-ground poll readiness.
The district leaders were briefed on the code of conduct during the elections. Fadnavis and Danve addressed the leaders after hearing their feedback.
The party also held a Parliamentary Board meeting later, where potential candidates for each of their 25 seats were discussed. The party plans to finalise the first list of around 15 candidates in the coming four days. Late in the evening, Fadnavis met party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kakde who is planning to cross over to the Congress. Party leaders said Fadnavis tried to convince Kakade not to quit. The Congress is considering Kakade for the Pune Lok Sabha constituency.
Meanwhile, the action in the Congress camp shifted to New Delhi, as the top brass in state unit of the party attended a meeting to screen the candidates’ list.
While welcoming Sonawane to the party, Thackeray reiterated that the Sena forged an alliance with the BJP in the interest of Hindutva. “I am content that the issues raised by us – farm loan waiver, crop insurance, Nanar refinery project, property tax waiver for flats smaller than 500 sqft – have been resolved. We would have won Shirur and Junnar even without the alliance. But looking at the political scenario in the country, people who do not have any ideological identity would have sat on our head. Would that have been worth it,” he asked.
