Differences in BJP? Nitin Gadkari also in Maharashtra CM's race

Nagpur Even as senior BJP leader SudhirMungantiwar is pitching for Union Minister Nitin Gadkari aschief minister of Maharashtra a group of newlyelected partyMLAs from Vidarbha region today assembled outside theresidence of Gadkari in Mahal area of the city and raisedslogans hailing his leadershipGadkari who arrived here from New Delhi today wasaccorded a rousing reception by the party workers and leadersat Nagpur airport for the splendid victory of BJP in thejustconcluded Assembly pollsNitin GadkariAddressing party workers Gadkari thanked people ofMaharashtra for giving massive mandate to BJPWhen reporters asked him about Mungantiwar demandingthat he should become chief minister Gadkari refused tocomment saying he had already clarified that he did not wantto return to state politicsA good number of MLAs who had flown to Mumbai yesterdayfor the crucial BJP Legislative Party meeting which could nottake place returned to the city today and drove straight toGadkaris residence in eastern Nagpur and raised slogans inhis favourThe development is being viewed as a show of strength tosend signal to party leadership which is yet to name the chiefministerEarlier in the day Mungantiwar former state unit BJPchief and a member of party core committee told reporters inMumbai that Gadkari should come to state politicsState BJP leaders feel that Nitin Gadkariji should comeback to the state politics and take up the position of the CMof Maharashtra He has a lot of administrative experiencebehind him which makes him an ideal candidate he has saidAmong other names doing rounds incumbent state unit BJPpresident Devendra Fadnavis also from Nagpur is consideredas the strong contender for the post of chief ministerBJP which contested solo after severing its 25yearoldbond with Shiv Sena pocketed 123 seats in an unprecedentedperformance The saffron party is facing the shortfall of 22seats to reach the magic figure of 145 seats it needed in the288member HouseThe Vidarbha region where statehood is a contentiousissue has overwhelmingly come out in support of BJP which won44 seats out of 62 seats in the regionThis latest development in the party which emerged as the single largest entity with 122 legislators plus one from ally Rashtriya Samaj Paksha in the 288member assembly may dampen the aspirations of others like former Leader of Opposition in the assembly Eknath Khadse Leader of Opposition in the council Vinod Tawde and late Gopinath Mundes daughter Pankaja MundePalweMungantiwar has also called upon the Shiv Sena to extend unconditional support to the BJP and welcomed the unconditional external support by the Sharad Pawarled Nationalist Congress PartyHome Minister Rajnath Singh who along with newly appointed incharge of Maharashtra JP Nadda cancelled his visit to the state twice in the past couple of days is now expected only after Diwali leaving the field wide open for manipulations by various contendersOne section of BJP leaders wants to project Pankaja Mundes name as the first woman and Other Backward Castes chief minister whose candidature may attract the reluctant Shiv Senas support but she later claimed to have backed out of the chief ministerial raceIn the meantime the BJP is continuing efforts to lure seven independents and other smaller parties to prop up its government besides weaning potential supporters from the other major partiesThe BJPs calculation is that with the support of independents and smaller parties it will succeed in reaching the figure of around 135 still short of the magic figure of 145If invited to form the government as the single largest party it could still sail through the first hurdle of vote of confidence with 135 and the unconditional external support of the NCP which has 41 legislators