After Sparring, BJP Leader Backs Shrikant Shinde As 2024 Candidate

Maharashtra minister and BJP leader Ravindra Chavan on Sunday said sitting Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde will be the NDA nominee for the same seat in the next elections and he would emerge victorious.

Chavan's support to the candidature of Shrikant Shinde, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, comes against the backdrop of sparring between local leaders of ruling Shiv Sena and BJP over the candidature for this constituency and it indicates BJP's bid to pacify the ally.

Notably, Chavan and some local BJP leaders had fired veiled barbs at the CM and the Kalyan MP in the past over the Kalyan seat, which falls under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

"There should not be any doubt that we will be working to ensure the victory of NDA (National Democratic Alliance) candidate in all the upcoming elections. Shrikant Shinde is currently a Lok Sabha member from the Kalyan constituency. He will be the NDA nominee from the same constituency and he will win the election," Chavan told a regional news channel.

He also reiterated the BJP's long-pending demand for sharing the mayoral post of Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation, where elections are pending.

"It was earlier decided to share the seats though the BJP and Shiv Sena had contested local elections separately in 2017. But in post-2019 assembly elections, the seat of mayor was not shared with the BJP. We will make a request this time to allocate the mayor's post to the BJP post the civic elections," Chavan added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)