Nashik: The first face-to-face meeting of Water Resources Development Minister Girish Mahajan, Education Minister Dada Bhuse, and Industries Minister Uday Samant with BJP rebel and independent MLC election candidate Gokul Gite failed to yield any result. The ministers later expressed hope that a decision regarding Gite's support to the Mahayuti alliance would be made on Tuesday.
Efforts to Persuade Gite
Ever since Gite filed his nomination, Mahajan and Samant have been trying their best to persuade him to withdraw from the election. However, their efforts proved unsuccessful as the last date for nomination withdrawal passed without any change, leaving Mahayuti and its candidate, Shiv Sena member Narendra Darade, unaffected. Since then, both ministers have remained in Nashik, attempting to meet Gite in person.
First Face-to-Face Meeting
While Mahajan and Samant had only been able to contact Gite by phone in previous days, Monday marked the first and only face-to-face meeting among Mahajan, Samant, Bhuse, and Gite at Nashik airport, just as the trio were about to depart for Mumbai.
A senior BJP office-bearer stated, “The BJP leadership has been able to persuade Prasad Hiray, another BJP rebel, to announce his unconditional support to the Mahayuti candidate. We welcome Hiray’s decision to support Darade. We are in final talks with Gite and hope for a good decision tomorrow.” This statement was made after Samant and Mahajan left for Mumbai.
Mahayuti's Confidence
Earlier in the evening, Mahajan, speaking to reporters alongside Hiray at a hotel in Nashik city, said, “We have won six seats unopposed. We are contesting 11 seats and are sure to win them hands down. The opposition will not win a single seat. We welcome Hiray’s decision as he has announced his support to the Shiv Sena candidate.”
Industries Minister Samant added that once the Nashik issue is resolved successfully, the issue in Jalgaon, where a Sena candidate has rebelled against the Mahayuti’s BJP candidate, will also be resolved automatically.
