Former BJP MP Gopal Shetty withdrew his nomination from the Borivali seat on Monday. He had filed a nomination against BJP’s official candidate Sanjay Upadhyay. Shetty was seen with Union Minister Piyush Goyal after taking back his candidature from the Borivali constituency.
The development comes two days after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met rebel BJP leader Shetty to convince him to opt out of the fray from Borivali assembly seat in north Mumbai.
Shetty, a two-time Lok Sabha MP and MLA for several terms, was contesting as an independent candidate after the BJP overlooked his candidature and gave the ticket to Upadhyay.
In a post on X, BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde said Shetty has assured Fadnavis he will never quit the BJP and would not do anything that will hurt the party. Tawde also posted photos of Shetty and Fadnavis.
“I made this decision not in pursuit of a party ticket but out of concern for the local workers who have been continually overlooked. Together, let’s bring positive change to our constituency,” Shetty had said after filing nomination papers last week.
