Nagpur MLC poll: Fadnavis meets Gadkari amid candidate churn, rebellion fears

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Sunday afternoon to discuss who the BJP's candidate will be for the Nagpur graduates' constituency election to the Legislative Council. The meeting took place at Gadkari's residence in the Mahal area of Nagpur.

The meeting, which lasted nearly an hour and a half, focused on finalising the candidate's name. Curiosity over who the candidate will be persists among BJP workers as well as opposition parties. The Chief Minister arrived directly at the residence after an event of the Chamkar Seva Sangh. With many aspirants in the BJP for the seat, the party leadership is said to be having considerable difficulty finalising a candidate.

Some aspiring candidates are reported to have hinted at rebellion. Efforts are said to be underway to avoid such a situation and prevent any damage to the party. Guardian Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule was also present during the meeting between Fadnavis and Gadkari.

According to sources, discussions at Gadkari's residence initially covered various issues related to the municipal corporation. Nagpur Mayor Neeta Thakre, BJP city president Dayashankar Tiwari, MLA Mohan Mate, MLA Krishna Khopde and other office-bearers were present at this time. It was clarified that no discussion on the candidate took place during this part of the meeting.

Following this, Chief Minister Fadnavis, Gadkari and Bawankule held a separate closed-door discussion. It is in this discussion that the candidature is said to have been deliberated. Two leaders, Sudhakar Kohale and Anil Sole, are said to be leading contenders from the BJP.

Sudhir Diwe, Girish Deshmukh and Sandeep Joshi are also reportedly interested in the seat. The OBC factor had been a major issue in this constituency during the last election, and the BJP is said to be exercising special caution this time while selecting the candidate.

Raman Senad, president of the Lokjagruti Morcha, has also staked a claim for the BJP candidature in the Nagpur graduates' constituency election to the Legislative Council. He has separately met Chief Minister Fadnavis and Gadkari in this regard, requesting that the party give him the candidature.