Navi Mumbai, Nov 18 (PTI) BJP leader Ganesh Naik and his son Sandeep, who rebelled against the JP Nadda-led party and joined Sharad Pawar's NCP (SP), are locked in a fierce fight in Airoli and Belapur assembly seats as the family seeks to regain its dominance in Navi Mumbai, a planned satellite city near India's financial capital.
The Naiks once held unrivalled supremacy over the region with Ganesh Naik and Sandeep Naik winning the Belapur and Airoli constituencies, respectively, as (undivided) 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 Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation mayor in the past.
However, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi coming to power in 2014, the Naiks of Navi Mumbai faced setbacks. Ganesh Naik tasted defeat at the hands of BJP's Manda Mhatre in Belapur, while Sanjeev Naik lost to (undivided) Shiv Sena's Rajan Vichare in the Lok Sabha polls. Sandeep Naik, however, managed to retain his Airoli seat.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, the Naiks shifted allegiance from the NCP to the BJP, with the family patriarch winning the Airoli assembly seat after leaving his traditional Belapur seat to BJP's Mhatre.
Ahead of the 2024 state polls, Sandeep Naik quit as Navi Mumbai BJP chief and joined the NCP (SP) to take on Mhatre in Airoli in a bid to regain the family's stronghold over Navi Mumbai, which is seeing a new wave of development thanks to an upcoming international airport as well as a massive township being built in the facility's area of influence.
"The father-son duo is planning to regain there hold on Navi Mumbai but people are aware. They (Naiks) are circulating fake videos and calling me aggressive. I am zero if I am not aggressive. My aggression is against the wrong things," Mhatre told PTI Videos.
The traditional rivalry of Naiks with the Shiv Sena is playing out in both the assembly segments where Eknath Shinde-led party leaders Vijay Chougule and Vijay Nahata are contesting as Independents from Airoli and Belapur seats, respectively.
"There is a misconception that Naiks have a hold in Navi Mumbai. They have been defeated in the past," Nahata, a retired bureaucrat-turned-politician, said.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded M K Madhavi against Ganesh Naik from Airoli.
"The Naik family has ruled this city for the last 35 years but has nothing done for bhoomiputras (sons of the soil). They have just changed parties frequently for power," Madhavi asserted.
Sandeep Naik, however, said people of Navi Mumbai wanted him to contest for development of the area.
"Our priority is to generate employment in the city. The sitting MLA (Manda Mhatre) has not done anything in past ten years so there is a vacuum now. I have switched sides (from BJP to NCP-SP) because what I was promised was not fulfilled," Sandeep Naik said.
BJP leader Ganesh Naik is confident of his victory from Airoli.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis addressed a rally in his support and expressed confidence senior Naik will register a massive victory in the November 20 elections, results of which will be declared on November 23.
Fadnavis also took a swipe at Sandeep Naik by saying rebel candidates in the Belapur seat would realise their real strength in the region. PTI PS SKU BNM
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