Nagpur: Just a few hours before the MLC voting began in Nagpur, the Congress party in a shocking move extended support to independent candidate Mangesh Deshmukh instead of newly-joined Congress leader Dr Ravindra Bhoyar alias Chotu Bhoyar.
Bhoyar had joined the dynasty party just a day after BJP declared former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule as its MLC candidate.
Bhoyar had been in the BJP since the past 25 years and has been winning the corporation elections since the past four terms. According to sources, Bhoyar was denied ticket from the BJP party, post that, disgruntled Bhoyar joined hands with the Congress party. Soon after joining hands with them, he was given the ticket to fight MLC elections.
Bawankule was denied a ticket to fight the elections in 2019. A letter by the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) was issued which stated that Bhoyar has cited his inability to contest the MLC elections. However, according to multiple sources, senior Congress leaders have been planning to sideline Bhoyar since the last couple of days.
The BJP had sent its leaders as well as corporators out of the city to places like Goa, Nainital, Dharamshala to prevent any last-minute issue
