Maharashtra Elections 2024: Sena's Palghar MLA regrets siding with CM Shinde after being denied ticket

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Dismayed over being denied a ticket by his party, sitting Shiv Sena MLA Shrinivas Vanga, from Palghar district in Maharashtra, said that he has committed a "grave mistake" of siding with CM Eknath Shinde and joining his party, PTI reported.

Shrinivas, the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Vanga, became an MLA following his win in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections as a candidate of undivided Shiv Sena from the Palghar (Scheduled Tribes) seat. After the Shiv Sena split, Vanga supported Shinde. He was hoping to get renominated from the Palghar seat by the party this time.

However, the party gave candidature to former MP Rajendra Gavit, who had also supported Shinde and the few MLAs when they had rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership in June 2022.

In its list of 20 nominees announced on Sunday, the Shiv Sena fielded Gavit from the Palghar assembly seat for the upcoming Maharashtra Elections 2024, PTI reported.

After finding out that he has been denied re-nomination by the party, Vanga told PTI on Monday, "I made a grave mistake by joining the Shinde-led faction."

He also called Shinde's rival and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray a "dev manus".

While talking to the media, his family members showed concern over Vanga's present state of mind and said he has not only stopped communicating with them and having food but also was crying and threatening to harm himself.

After learning about the situation, the Maharashtra CM reportedly contacted Shrinivas Vanga's wife, assuring that her husband would be considered to be part of the Maharashtra legislative council, PTI reported.

Videos of Vanga's emotional outbreak have since gone viral on various social media platforms and news channels.

Elections for the 288 assembly seats of Maharashtra are scheduled to be held on November 20, while the vote counting will take place on November 23.

The Chief Election Officer's office said a total of 4,426 nomination papers of 3,259 candidates were filed by October 28 for the elections in 288 constituencies of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, reported ANI.

In the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI)