13 November,2023 04:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Sameer Surve
Gajanan Kirtikar shifted his loyalty to the Shinde camp Amol continued with Uddhav
Will the general elections see a father-son face-off in the city? Member of Parliament Gajanan Kirtikar, who is associated with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, made it clear that he would contest the Lok Sabha election from North West Mumbai, while his son Amol Kirtikar is also eager to contest from the same constituency, if his party asks him to do so.
After the split in the Shiv Sena, Gajanan Kirtikar shifted his loyalty to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, while his son Amol continued with former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The senior Kirtikar is a two-time MP from the North West Mumbai constituency and is willing to contest the LS election again. "The elections are not in sight, yet, but yes I'm interested in contesting. We have faith in CM Shinde and I am continuing to work for the constituency," said Gajanan Kirtikar.
On the other hand, his son Amol did not deny the possibility of contesting the LS election from the North West constituency. "I will abide by the party's decision. Though there is ample time for the elections, I can contest in any constituency whether it's Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. My party chief Uddhav Thackeray will decide," he said.
Gajanan Kirtikar said, "I have already asked Amol not to contest the election against me and not to participate in the campaign rally against me during the elections. Even if the party asks him, he will not contest the election against me. If he wants to contest he can do so in the Dapoli Assembly constituency in Ratnagiri district as he has worked there. I will not participate in the campaign rally against him if he is fighting from another constituency. I'm sure he will not contest the election from the North West constituency."
Meanwhile, leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) Ramdas Kadam while speaking with the media claimed that the Kirtikar father and son were working from the same office. "Nobody stops you (Gajanan Kirtikar) from contesting the election. But if his son contests, then Gajanan Kiritikar needs to fight the election, he can't sit at home after getting his candidature from the party," Kadam said.
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mid-day had reported a split in the families of politicians after the split in the Shiv Sena on October 9, 2022. mid-day had cited three cases of a split in families - Jaydev Thackeray, elder son of Shiv Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray supports CM Shinde, while his son Jaideep expressed his wish to join his uncle Uddhav. Similarly, former MLA Shrikant Sarmalkar is with Uddhav and his nephew is with Shinde. Shiv Sena MLA Kishor Patil from Pachola, Jalgaon, is with Shinde and his cousin and daughter of former MLA Tatyasaheb Patil, Vaishali Suryawanshi is with Thackeray.