Election 2019: BJP denies ticket to Kirit Somaiya, pitches Manoj Kotak

Kirit Somaiya

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya became the party's only sitting Member of Parliament from Mumbai to lose his seat to colleague Manoj Kotak. BJP's ally the Shiv Sena had raised strong opposition to Somaiya after he had sharply criticized Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during the 2017 civic elections.

The party has, in its sixteenth list of six candidates released on Wednesday, fielded Manoj Kotak who has been aggressively taking up local issues and has a string Gujarati support base. Somaiya's first reaction was that he was very happy that Kotak ji has got the ticket. "We all will support him and ensure he wins. Ultimately our aim is a second term for Modi ji. Responsibilities within party keep shifting, nothing new in it," he said.

After much strain, with a view to winning the Lok Sabha elections, the Shiv Sena and BJP had patched up in February but Shiv Sena was adamant on Somaiya. They had warned the BJP that they will not accept Somaiya in the north east in any case and if fielded would work against him. In fact, last week Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Raut said that he would contest the Lok Sabha elections himself if the BJP fielded Somaiya.

Somaiya supporters were upset that he was not given a ticket and said he was being made a victim. "Agreeing that Somaiya be denied ticket just because Uddhav does not want him, then Modi should not be PM because the entire opposition does not want him. Think, is it right?" one supporter questioned.

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