Hopping 3 Parties In A Year, Rajendra Gavit Now Palghar's Sena Candidate

Rajendra Gavit is perhaps Maharashtra's only candidate in the coming Lok Sabha elections who has been a member of three parties in the last one year. The sitting BJP lawmaker from Palghar will now contest from the same seat on a Shiv Sena ticket.

Musical chairs in politics are not new, but few can claim to match the record of Mr Gavit.

During the Palghar bypoll of 2018, Mr Gavit, former minister of the state, quit the Congress and joined the BJP.

The bypoll had become necessary after BJP lawmaker Chintaman Wanaga died. As Shiv Sena fielded his son Shrinivas Wanaga, the BJP poached Mr Gavit from the Congress.

The Sena and BJP fought a bitter battle, constantly trading barbs. Both Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis accused each other's parties of betrayal.

Cut to now, when the two parties are fighting on the same side. Not only has the seat gone to the Shiv Sena, but also the BJP's then candidate.

Uddhav Thackeray, who welcomed Mr Gavit into the Sena, even joked that it was a "barter of candidates". Sena's Suresh Prabhu joined the BJP in November 2014, weeks after he was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.

The Congress and Sharad Pawar's NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) have fielded Hitendra Thakur from the Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, which is a part of their alliance. The voters in the constituency are spread across urban belts of Vasai, Nalasopara, Palghar and the tribal areas of Dahanu, Vikramgad and Boisar.

In 2018, Palghar became a two-pronged battle between Shiv Sena and BJP while the BVA candidate came third. This time, with the Sena and BJP coming together, party leaders say they won't have any problem in retaining the seat.