Will contest poll under new party, says Gote

Mumbai: Barely a day after saying that he was reconsidering his decision to resign from the party, the rebel BJP MLA Anil Gote has said he will contest the upcoming Dhule Municipal Corporation (DMC) polls independently under the new party. He said that his wife Hema Gote will be his party’s mayoral candidate in the DMC polls.

Mr Gote announced the decision to revive his old party ‘Loksangram’ in Dhule on Tuesday. It will contest all the 74 seats in the DMC, he said.

“My major grievance is that the BJP has given tickets to people with criminal background. I provided all the information to the party, even discussed the matter with senior party leaders but I was not satisfied,” he said in Dhule.

 Mr Gote took the decision to part ways with the BJP after a failed intervention from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He had met Mr Fadnavis in Mumbai on Monday and held discussion with him. After the meeting, he had said that he was reconsidering his decision to resign from the party. Alleging induction of ‘criminals’ into the party, Mr Gote had announced his resignation from the assembly and the party on November 12.

It is said that the BJP MLA took the decision to form the new party after realising that his political dominance in the city was under threat.