Omie Kalani, son of gangster-politician and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Pappu Kalani, has said he will join the BJP in a few days along with 21 NCP members of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation.
Pappu Kalani has been convicted for murder and there are several cases against his wife and son as well. In the 1990s, Kalani was brought into politics by NCP chief Sharad Pawar and BJP’s Gopinath Munde had begun a state-wide campaign against the criminalisation of politics citing Kalani as an example.
Currently, the Shiv Sena-BJP combine controls the UMC, which has a Sena mayor. The Shiv Sena has 19 seats and BJP 11 in the UMC.
With Omie joining its ranks, the BJP will go from being “a party with a difference” to one with criminals.
Omie said on Wednesday that he has his father’s “blessings” for the move, Mumbai Mirror reported.
We had a lengthy conversation and my father told me we had been Sharad Pawar loyalists for many years. I feel that times have changed and the BJP has emerged as the party of the masses. Ulhasnagar is a Sindhi-dominated area and voters have to choose between Pappu Kalani and the BJP. We want to end this dilemma and convey the message that the Kalanis are with the BJP.
The formal announcement of Omie and the NCP corporators’ entry into the BJP is likely to come on Saturday and is being facilitated by Ravi Chavan, a BJP minister of state.
Pappu’s wife Jyoti is an NCP MLA from Ulhasnagar. She will resign from the post of city NCP chief but will continue as an MLA, Omie said.
Sources in the BJP have said a move of this nature was the need of the hour. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has said that his party won’t be contesting the coming civic polls along with the BJP.
A BJP faction being led by MLA Kumar Ailani is opposing the tie-up but Omie said that his opposition is insignificant.
Suresh alias Pappu Kalani was jailed under TADA between 1991 and 2002 on charges of murder and running a crime syndicate. He is out on bail in 19 cases, eight of pertain to murder.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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