The Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP-SP) released its first list of 45 candidates for the Maharashtra Assembly election on Thursday evening. Among the candidates is former Airoli MLA Sandeep Naik, who recently switched from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to NCP-SP. He has been given a ticket to contest from the Belapur Assembly constituency.
Naik had been eyeing the Belapur seat under the BJP banner but was passed over in favor of two-time winner Manda Mhatre. In response, he joined NCP-SP, stating that the decision was personal and made after consulting with his party workers. Along with Naik, 28 corporators, including a former mayor and opposition leader, also joined NCP-SP.
Naik’s switch to NCP-SP was made in the presence of senior party leader Jayant Patil, who praised him for involving his supporters in the decision to move to the Sharad Pawar-led faction. Naik had expressed frustration that despite his hard work for the BJP during the 2019 Assembly and 2024 Parliamentary elections, his efforts were overlooked.
Interestingly, the BJP offered a ticket for the Airoli seat to his father, former Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik. Sandeep Naik emphasized that his move to NCP-SP was not in opposition to his father but was motivated by his desire to support the development of Navi Mumbai, a decision driven by the requests of his party workers. He also criticized the BJP for mistreating his workers and for the inaccessibility of some BJP public representatives.
Earlier, on Monday, Ganesh Naik addressed his son's decision, stating that Sandeep was free to make his own choices. His comment came during the launch of his campaign in Bokode Village, Koparkhairane. Reflecting on his own political journey, Ganesh Naik recalled contesting his first election at the age of 21 and affirmed that Sandeep could make his own decisions. However, as the president of BJP’s Navi Mumbai district unit, Sandeep also had responsibilities to fulfill. "I won’t stop him if he chooses to contest," Ganesh Naik said.