Mahesh Gaikwad, the Kalyan city chief of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction), has been expelled from the party. Mahesh had filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Kalyan East, contesting against the Mahayuti candidate Sulbha Gaikwad. Mahesh Gaikwad will now vow to content as independent candidate from Kalyan East assembly constituency.
Mahesh Gaikwad is known to be a close associate of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Despite receiving an offer from the Shive Sena UBT (Thackeray faction), he chose to contest as an independent candidate. Some speculate that this move by the Shinde faction might be a strategy to corner the BJP amidst the ongoing discord within the Mahayuti alliance between the BJP and the Shinde faction.
Earlier, while speaking with LokmatTimes.com, Mahesh Gaikwad said that he would contest independent if the ticket was given to the family of BJP's Ganpat Gaikwad. He accused a BJP MLA of being involved in corruption and said that he would not support him if the high command supported the family of the jailed MLA.
"Ganpat did nothing for development and the voters are facing water-cut, power-cut, traffic, illegal construction issues," said Mahesh Gaikwad.
The tensions between the BJP and the Shinde faction within the Mahayuti alliance have become evident in the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency. Ganpat Gaikwad, the current MLA from the Kalyan East Assembly constituency, is in jail due to the shooting incident involving Mahesh Gaikwad.
The shooting occurred following a land dispute, and Ganpat Gaikwad had fired at Mahesh Gaikwad, leading to the filing of a case at the Hill Line police station. With the Assembly elections approaching, the atmosphere in Kalyan East has heated up, and the ongoing feud between the two Gaikwads has come to the forefront.