Maharashtra polls: Ganesh Naik, his son in the running to regain family dominance in Navi Mumbai | Latest news India

Navi Mumbai, BJP leader Ganesh Naik and his son Sandeep, who rebelled against the JP Nadda-led party and joined Sharad Pawar’s NCP, are engaged in a bitter fight for the Airoli and of Belapur as the family seeks to regain its dominance in Navi Mumbai. , a planned satellite city near India’s financial capital. The Naiks once held unrivaled supremacy over the region, with Ganesh Naik and Sandeep Naik winning Belapur and Airoli constituencies respectively as NCP candidates. Ganesh Naik’s elder son Sanjeev Naik was also a NCP Lok Sabha member from Thane, while the former’s nephew Sagar had served as mayor of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation in the past. However, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming to power in 2014, the Navi Mumbai Naiks faced setbacks. Ganesh Naik tasted defeat to BJP’s Manda Mhatre in Belapur, while Sanjeev Naik lost to Shiv Sena’s Rajan Vichare in the Lok Sabha polls. Sandeep Naik, however, managed to retain his seat in Airoli. Ahead of the 2019 elections, the Naiks switched allegiance from the NCP to the BJP, with the family patriarch winning the Airoli assembly seat after vacating his traditional Belapur seat in favor of the BJP’s Mhatre. Ahead of the 2024 state elections, Sandeep Naik resigned as Navi Mumbai BJP chief and joined the NCP to take on Mhatre in Airoli in a bid to regain the family’s bastion in Navi Mumbai, which is witnessing a new wave of development thanks to an upcoming international. airport as well as a huge township under construction in the area of ​​influence of the installation. “The father-son duo is planning to take over Navi Mumbai but people know about it. They are circulating fake videos and calling me aggressive. I am lousy if I am not aggressive. My aggression is against bad people things,” Mhatre said. PTI Videos. The Naiks’ traditional rivalry with the Shiv Sena is playing out in the two assembly segments where the Eknath Shinde-led party’s leaders, Vijay Chougule and Vijay Nahata, are contesting the Airoli and Belapur Independent seats respectively. “There is a misconception that the Naiks have a hold on Navi Mumbai. They have been defeated in the past,” said Nahata, a retired bureaucrat-turned-politician. Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, has fielded MP Madhavi against Ganesh Naik from Airoli. “The Naik family has been ruling this town for 35 years but has done nothing for the bhoomiputras. They have just changed parties to power frequently,” Madhavi alleged. Sandeep Naik, however, said the people of Navi Mumbai wanted him to come forward for the development of the region. “Our priority is to create jobs in the city. The sitting MP has done nothing in the last ten years, so there is a void now. I switched sides because what I heard had promised was not kept,” said Sandeep Naik. BJP leader Ganesh Naik is confident of his victory over Airoli. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed a rally in his support and expressed confidence that the senior Naik would register a massive victory in the November 20 elections, the results of which will be declared on November 23. Fadnavis also attacked Sandeep Naik saying rebel candidates for the Belapur seat would realize his true strength in the region.