BJP to lose Rajan Teli from Sindhudurg as he returns to Shiv Sena (UBT)

Rajan Teli, a BJP leader from Maharashtra’s coastal Sindhudurg district, has resigned from the party’s primary membership and is set to join the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

He was the BJP in-charge of the Sawantwadi assembly segment.

Teli claimed he had worked hard for the BJP in the past 10 years but was facing troubles, particularly after Ratnagiri–Sindhudurg Lok Sabha MP and former Union minister Narayan Rane and his family joined the party.

Citing reports about the likely switch of Rane’s son Nilesh to the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde to contest in the 20 November assembly polls, Teli said he was opposed to giving Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies to one family.

Rane’s younger son Nitesh is the MLA from the Kankavali constituency in the Sindhudurg district and will likely get the ticket from there, while reports say Nilesh will be fielded from a seat currently with the Shiv Sena.

The state’s Konkan belt accounts for 75 of the 288 assembly seats, including 36 in Mumbai.

Teli was earlier associated with the undivided Shiv Sena.