BJP likely to appoint new Mumbai chief ahead of BMC polls

(File photo)

The Mumbai unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to get a new president ahead of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, scheduled to be held later this year.

The BMC polls will be held in October or November this year.

“At the internal meeting with top leadership, Ashish Shelar conveyed to the party that he would like to step down as the Mumbai BJP president,” sources were cited as saying by The Indian Express.

Ashish Shelar is currently the Mumbai BJP president and is also the Maharashtra minister for Information and Technology. He had earlier served as Mumbai BJP president from 2013 to 2019, before holding the office again from 2022.

“The central and the state BJP units have made up their mind to appoint a new candidate for the Mumbai BJP president role. Several names are in the reckoning, including Amit Satam, Pravin Darekar, and Atul Bhatkhalkar,” a senior party functionary told The Indian Express.

Earlier in July, Ravindra Chavan was formally appointed as the Maharashtra BJP president.

A source told The Indian Express that with growing proximity between estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray, chief of Shiv Sena (UBT), and Raj Thackeray, head of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, over the Marathi plank, the BJP wants to make sure it has a Marathi candidate heading the Mumbai BJP unit before the BMC polls.