Nashik MLC polls winner Gokul Gite joins Shiv Sena as associate member

Nashik: Hours after defeating Shiv Sena’s official candidate Narendra Darade in the Nashik local authorities election, independent candidate Gokul Gite joined Shiv Sena as an associate member in the legislative council.The swift political move raised eyebrows among Shiv Sena and BJP politicians, while Darade claimed that deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde was well aware of how the party’s candidate was treated by BJP during the contest.“Even before the election results were officially declared, a close associate of Gokul Gite received a call from a Shiv Sena minister asking him to come to Mumbai by a chartered flight,” said a Shiv Sena member backing Darade.

“Though the minister initially denied it, claiming such a quick move was impossible, he eventually flew to Nashik himself to bring Gite to Mumbai by plane. It strongly suggests that the entire sequence of events was pre-planned,” he added.A BJP politician also expressed surprise at the development. “On June 9, three ministers — Girish Mahajan, Uday Samant and Dada Bhuse — were persuading Gite to pull out of the race.

Suddenly, after the results are out, MLC Gokul Gite, a close confidante of Girish Mahajan, is in Shiv Sena. This surprises everybody,” he said.Gite secured 357 votes in the election, defeating Darade by 109 votes and comfortably crossing the winning quota of 303.Darade, however, appeared to play it safe when asked if he shared these suspicions. “We were ready to contest the election straight forward manner, but were told it would go against the interests of Mahayuti. We were betrayed, and Shiv Sena chief and deputy CM Eknath Shinde is well aware of the situation, as well as how our alliance partner (BJP) treated Shiv Sena during the election,” he told TOI.On Gite’s sudden induction, Darade said he was informed by Shinde himself. “I was in Mumbai around 4pm on Monday when I received a call from deputy CM Shinde. He explained that it was crucial to strengthen the party’s presence in the legislative council and expand our footprint in Nashik district, which is why Gokul Gite was being brought in. I told him I had no objections,” he said.