Kasba bypoll: Rattled after denial of BJP ticket, deceased MLA Mukta Tilak’s family says they will work for party
Soon after the BJP announced Hemant Rasane as its candidate for the Kasba bypoll in Maharashtra on Saturday afternoon, the party rushed one of its top leaders to the residence of deceased MLA Mukta Tilak to placate the family which had been gearing up to contest the seat.
BJP minister Girish Bapat interacted with the family and urged them to continue working for the party. Though jolted by the denial of ticket, the Tilak family has agreed to support the party. In a bid to ease the situation, Mukta’s son Kunal Tilak has been elevated as a party spokesperson. Kunal is also the editor of the party’s Yuva Morcha magazine.
“We knew it was coming. When Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met us on Friday, he had given indications that the ticket will not be given to us. But we were hoping that it will finally come our way… We feel that injustice has been done to the memory of my wife who worked relentlessly for the party and Kasba constituency,” Mukta’s husband Shailesh Tilak told The Indian Express today.
Asked whether the family will work for the party candidate, Shailesh said, “We have already started working for this election to help the party and we will continue our work.”
“Rasane came to meet us in the evening after his name was announced,” Shailesh added. “He has not sought our support so far.”
The BJP has nominated Hemant Rasane to contest from the Kasba Assembly seat. The former corporator has thrice served as the standing committee chairperson of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). His name had been doing rounds for quite some time before Rasane finally got the nod.
The Tilak family is also upset as deceased BJP MLA Laxman Jagtap’s wife has been given the ticket for the Chinchwad bypoll. “They should have applied a similar yardstick for us,” Shailesh pointed out.
Besides, the Tilaks are also irked as those who worked with Mukta did not propose Shailesh’s name. “There is a very short period to go before the current MLA term ends. Those who worked with my wife should have at least proposed the name of her family member for this short period, but they did not,” Shailesh explained.
Tilak also said that there is no MLA from the Brahmin community in Pune. “If representation had been given to the Brahmin community, it would have been better. Currently, there are no MLAs from the community,” he said.
Bypolls will be held in Kasba Peth and Chinchwad Assembly constituencies in Maharashtra on February 26. The counting of votes will be on March 2.
