Read why Shrikant Shinde slammed BJP leaders of Dombivli
Shrikant Shinde, the son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, slammed local Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from the Dombivli area on Friday for engaging in “selfish politics” by causing trouble for the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and offered to resign if that would bridge the growing schism between the two parties.
Shrikant’s comments came after local BJP workers accused the Sena MP of unjustly framing BJP’s Dombivli East Mandal head Nandu Joshi in a molestation allegation.
The BJP workers issued a resolution Wednesday not to support the Shinde camp in the elections, alleging that the move was made to settle political scores.
Amid the BJP leaders’ protest, Shrikant indicated that the Shinde group would contest the Lok Sabha seats won by the party in the 2019 election, further exacerbating the controversy.
Shinde volunteered to retire when BJP leaders demanded the dismissal of police officer Shekhar Bagade, who allegedly submitted an FIR against Joshi “on the instructions” of the Lok Sabha member.
CM Shinde’s son, Shrikant Shinde, is a Lok Sabha MP from Maharashtra’s Kalyan constituency, which is part of the Kalyan-Dombivli metropolitan area, which is at the core of the brewing political maelstrom.
Shrikant Shinde the parties youth face:
The orthopaedic surgeon-turned-politician is said to be groomed as the party’s youth face and the Shinde faction’s answer to Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray ahead of the long-overdue Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and assembly elections.
The two-term Kalyan MP has developed as a formidable leader of the Shinde scion, regarded as the party’s number two in political circles since he handles organisational concerns and political administration.
The 36-year-old leader has also been working on his father’s pet project, the beautifying of Mumbai, and other challenges. He closely monitors his father’s decisions as CM and serves as Shinde’s “point person” in New Delhi.
In February, a dispute surrounding Shrikant Shinde erupted when MP Sanjay Raut of the Uddhav Thackeray group alleged that Shinde’s son had offered Thane-based mobster Raja Thakur a “contract” to kill him, an allegation Shiv Sena refuted.
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