BJP faces dissent in Latur ahead of civic polls; disgruntled leaders hold meet

Latur, Jan 2 (PTI) The Bharatiya Janata Party is facing dissent in the run-up to the January 15 Latur Municipal Corporation polls with several workers alleging new entrants were being considered for tickets instead of old-timers and loyalists.

Several of these workers met at a wedding hall here on Thursday to discuss the issue.

The BJP lost the Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Latur in 2024, and may lose the polls to the 70-member LMC too if it continues to distribute tickets in this manner, they added.

"We will declare our next move at a press conference on January 5. Our meeting yesterday received a good response. In this municipal corporation, the BJP has sidelined old-timers and loyalists. Several imported leaders have been given tickets," Nitin Shete, who took part in the meeting, told PTI.

He said a decision may be taken to contest on a single common symbol against "imported, favoured and outsider candidates".

Among those who took part in the meeting included local leaders Jitesh Chapsi, Nitin Shete, Madhav Patil Mahalangrikar, Deepak Kulkarni, Kuldeepsingh Thakur and Vaman Rathod. PTI COR BNM