BJP expels Sandeep Naik ‘permanently’, 25 former corporators for 6 years

Navi Mumbai: The BJP on Tuesday “permanently closed its door” to its former Navi Mumbai president Sandeep Naik, who left the party over two weeks ago to join the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) and is contesting against the incumbent BJP MLA from Belapur, Manda Mhatre, in the upcoming assembly elections. The party also suspended 25 former corporators and office-bearers for a period of six years for indulging in “anti-party activities” after they were found campaigning for Naik and against the BJP candidate.
Naik, however, dismissed the order as childish, saying, “What sense does ‘permanently closing the door’ make when someone has already quit 15 days back? It is like someone taking a leaving certificate from a school and the school claiming later that it has removed him.”
Former corporator Dr Jayaji Nath, who is among the 25 suspended corporators, also brushed aside the BJP’s diktat, saying they were supporting Naik for the sake of justice and the development of Belapur.
“We had resigned from the party during the Lok Sabha election when Sanjeev Naik was denied a ticket. We were then verbally told that our resignations had not been accepted and Devendra Fadnavis personally assured us that the Naiks (Sandeep Naik and his father Ganesh Naik) would be given tickets for both constituencies (Airoli and Belapur) in the assembly polls. However, that word was not kept,” said Dr Nath.
The Naiks, who have a towering presence in Navi Mumbai politics, were with the undivided NCP till 2019, when they switched to the BJP and Ganesh Naik was elected as the Airoli MLA. While declaring candidates for the upcoming assembly polls, BJP chose to renominate Ganesh Naik from Airoli whereas in Belapur, it renominated the incumbent MLA Manda Mhatre, ignoring the Naiks’ claim over the seat.
On October 22, a miffed Sandeep Naik and some of his supporters joined the NCP (SP) in the presence of state president Jayant Patil. He was subsequently named as the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate from Belapur. Several BJP corporators and office bearers who joined Naik’s poll campaign thereafter have now been suspended by the party.
BJP Navi Mumbai president Ramchandra Gharat supported the punitive action against Naik and his supporters, saying, “Our top leaders are very upset that someone who had been given the reins of the party in the city went against it and worked for the defeat of the official candidate.” Following the rebellion in the BJP in the wake of assembly election nominations, a clear message needed to be sent that such indiscipline would not be tolerated, noted Gharat, who was a contender for the ticket from Belapur. He was reinstated as the party’s Navi Mumbai president after being denied the ticket.
“The BJP is a party of discipline and decisions of the party must be abided. I too wanted to contest (the assembly polls) but when the party makes a decision, you accept it,” he said.
On the action against the former corporators, he said, “The core committee learnt that the rebels were misleading people, saying that they would return to the party after the elections. This is not acceptable to the party. We wanted to put an end to all such talk.”
Fadnavis meets Ganesh Naik
Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a surprise meeting with Airoli MLA Ganesh Naik late in the evening on Tuesday. He released Naik’s manifesto, praised him for his work over the years and exuded confidence regarding his victory. Referring to rebellions by BJP leaders in Navi Mumbai without taking any names, he said, “There is rebellion in Navi Mumbai but it is not going to matter. I want to tell them, fight with all your strength. You too will understand what your standing is.”