Jankar’s nomination puts BJP in a plight

Nagpur: The BJP is in a quandary over animal husbandry minister Mahadeo Jankar filing his nomination as a Rashtriya Samaj Party (RSP) candidate supported by it.

BJP national chief Amit Shah had earlier asked chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to ensure that Mr Jankar filed his nomination as a BJP candidate however the latter was not ready for that. So, the BJP asked Prithiviraj Deshmukh to file his nomination. Now, Mr Jankar has threatened to resign from his ministerial post if Mr Shah does not permit him as a candidate.

On the last day of filing nominations for the 11 seats of the Legislative Council, Mr Jankar filed his nomination as a RSP candidate. Although the RSP is supporting the BJP, the BJP policy is that leaders of smaller parties should contest elections as BJP candidates. Accordingly, Mr Fadnavis and other senior BJP leaders tried to convince Mr Jankar to contest the elections as a BJP candidate. However, Mr Jankar refused to comply, after which, the BJP asked Mr Deshmukh to file his nomination.

The situation now is that if Mr Shah and the parliamentary board do not permit Mr Jankar’s candidature, the latter will withdraw his nomination and resign from his ministerial post. Alternatively, if Mr Shah permits Mr Jankar to contest the election as a BJP supported candidate, Mr Deshmukh will withdraw his nomination, a senior BJP leader told The Asian Age.

Ramesh Patil, Ram Patil Ratodikar, Nilay Naik, Bhai Girkar and Prithiviraj Deshmukh have filed their nominations as BJP candidates. Anil Parab and Manisha Kayande have filed their nominations as Shiv Sena candidates.