Mira Bhayandar: On the last day of filing nomination papers, the BJP released the names of two more candidates including former legislator- Narendra Mehta who will be contesting the elections from the Mira Bhayandar (145) skipping the name of Geeta Jain a sitting MLA from the constituency.
An emotionally charged Jain, expressed disbelief over the disappointing decision taken by senior leaders of offering the ticket to a tainted person who has dozens of criminal offences registered against him at various police stations.
Notably, Jain had not only lent her unconditional support to the Maha-Yuti (MY) alliance but had also accompanied the Eknath Shinde rebel faction to Assam which had led to the toppling of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in 2022. Jain met the same fate as of Srinivas Wanga who has also been denied a ticket which was instead to a party hopper in Palghar.
“I am proud to say that I have a clean image and have relentlessly worked for the development of my constituency. But still I was denied a ticket with no valid reason. I received a call from deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressing helplessness, however he did not elaborate on what was the compulsion which triggered such an unjustified decision. The people are with me and I will contest the election as an independent for them. In fact, it will be a battle between the people and Mehta.” said Jain while condemning the leaders of not fulfilling their commitment of giving tickets to those who stood by them-be it the Assam rebellion episode or lending support in any decisions.
On the other hand, an overjoyed Mehta thanked his higher-ups in the party and alliance partners for exuding confidence in him. “The criminal cases against me are mostly politically motivated or are related to participating in agitations. Some cases including the corruption case are already on the verge of closure as there was no evidence against me. The development of the region has come to a standstill for the past five years, I will ensure everything comes back on track on war footing.” said Mehta.
This constituency is all set to witness a fierce triangular fight between Mehta (BJP), Muzaffar Hussain (Congress) and Jain (independent). Jain had dealt a huge blow to BJP’s sitting legislator and official candidate- Narendra Mehta by defeating him by a margin of 15,526 votes while contesting as independent after being denied a BJP ticket in the 2019 assembly elections.
