BJP leader reacts as ally Shiv Sena fields candidates he accused of corruption

BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said "everyone deserves a chance" after ally Shiv Sena gave tickets to Ravindra Waikar and Yamini Jadhav for the Lok Sabha polls. The BJP leader had levelled corruption allegations against both Waikar and Jadhav earlier.

"If your shirt gets stained, then you wash it and wear it again. They (Ravindra Waikar and Yamini Jadhav) too deserve a chance," Somaiya told India Today TV when asked about his views on the Shiv Sena candidates.

Ravindra Waikar, who was a loyalist of Uddhav Thackeray, joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction in March. On Tuesday, he was given a ticket from Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat. 

Yamini Jadhav, who was also in Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena faction, has been given a ticket from the Mumbai South Lok Sabha seat by Shinde Sena.

"We made it very clear earlier that the mafia rule, which Uddhav Thackeray had run in collaboration with his mafia government, has now come to an end. There has not been a single incident of corruption under the rule of Eknath Shinde and Narendra Modi and will not happen again," said Somaiya.

Somaiya has made repeated accusations against Waikar in the past. In March 2023, Somaiya charged Waikar, then a leader of Shiv Sena (UBT) with land grabbing and five-star hotel construction fraud in Mumbai.

In January this year, Waikar, who is facing money laundering charges, was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate over obtaining permission related to the construction of a luxury hotel in Mumbai's Jogeshwari.

Somaiya had also accused Yamini Jadhav of discrepancies in her affidavit for the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election. He claimed that Jadhav had illegally concealed three properties jointly with her mother in the Ratnagiri district.

However, when India Today TV asked Somaiya if he would campaign for Waikar and Jadhav, the BJP leader refused to answer and walked away.