Maharashtra Assembly Elections 2024: Ex-MLA Narendra Mehta Holds Sankalp Sabha In Bhayandar To Secure BJP Ticket; Former MBMC Mayor Nirmala Savle Joins BJP

Mira-Bhayandar: Amidst the ongoing tug-of-war between three aspirants over securing BJP nomination for the Mira Bhayandar (145) assembly constituency, former legislator Narendra Mehta organised a Sankalp Sabha in Bhayandar on Sunday.

It was apparently a last-ditch attempt by Mehta to mount pressure on the party top brass to show the clout he holds amongst the cadre and local voters. At the gathering, former MBMC mayor Nirmala Savle quit the Congress party and joined the BJP. 

Hundreds of grass root party workers, office bearers and around 61 former corporators in the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) registered their presence in the gathering and pledged their support to Mehta. The former MLA said the development of the region had come to a standstill in the past five years and he will ensure that all lagging projects are fast-tracked again. 

Apart from Mehta, two others, including independent legislator Geeta Jain and former city chief advocate Ravi Vyas are entangled in a fierce competition by staking claim to BJP candidature.

Former mayor and an active politician since 1997, Mehta joined BJP in 2012 and was appointed as the party’s city chief. After facing defeat in the 2009 assembly elections, Mehta made a comeback in 2014 by defeating his NCP rival. In 2019, he lost by a margin of 15, 526 votes to Geeta Jain, who fought as an independent after being denied a BJP  ticket.

Jain, who went on to support the Mahayuti alliance, had accompanied the Eknath Shinde rebel faction to Assam in 2022.