BJP leader with RSS background now Cong nominee for MLC elections in Maharashtra

Nagpur, Nov 23: After ending his 34-year association with the BJP, Ravindra Bhoyar, a former RSS volunteer and sitting corporator from Nagpur, filed his nomination papers on Tuesday as the Congress nominee from the local constituency for the upcoming polls to Maharashtra Legislative Council.

Bhoyar will be taking on BJP nominee and former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who will replace outgoing MLC from Nagpur Girish Vyas. He was a four-time corporator and had been with BJP for the last 34 years.

He had served as Deputy Mayor of Nagpur in 1997. His father Prabhakarrao Bhoyar had served as an RSS pracharak from 1949 to 1956 and was jailed during the Emergency. He held various positions in the right-wing organisation.

Ravindra Bhoyar claimed that he quit the BJP after it sidelined him in the last few years.

Bhoyar had said his family has been associated with the Sangh for more than 70 years, "but I am quitting BJP with a heavy heart for my self-respect. I will remain with Congress till the end," he said.

The biennial election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council will be held on December 10 from five local authorities' constituencies for six seats due to the retirement of sitting members. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 14.

The six seats are falling vacant from Mumbai (2 seats), and one seat each from Kolhapur, Dhule-cum-Nandurbar, Akola-cum-Buldhana-cum Washim, and Nagpur. PTI