The Lok Sabha polls saw high drama this year, especially in Maharashtra where the split in two parties had also seen families divide over their political loyalties. On the day of polling for the Lok Sabha elections in April this year, Meghna Kirtikar openly declared that she had disapproved of her husband Gajanan Kirtikar’s decision to go with Eknath Shinde. It was an example of how the party split had affected die-hard Shiv Sena-loyalist families. She even used not-so-polite language while addressing the chief minister. While the veteran union leader and former member of Parliament went with Shinde, his son Amol had stayed back with Uddhav Thackeray. In the Lok Sabha polls, the father-son were almost pitted against each other but then the senior Kirtikar pulled out of the contest for a ticket, instead, throwing his weight behind his son. Amol lost by a meagre 48 votes, it brought into the open a political divide within the family. A Shiv Sena leader even called for Gajanan’s expulsion for ‘anti-party activities’ which included campaigning for his son.
Gajanan Kirtikar began his career as a union leader and was an MLA from Malad for from 1990. Between 1995 and 1999, during the Shiv Sena-BJP government, Kirtikar was made the minister of state for home and tourism. A fiery union leader, Kirtikar led the Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti Mahasangha for several years. The organisation was affiliated to the Shiv Sena and fought for the rights of Maharashtrians who were employed.
In 2014, he successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections and defeated Congress veteran Gurudas Kamat. His victory run continued when he defeated Sanjay Nirupam by over 2.5 lakh votes becoming a ‘giant killer’. It was believed that the Mumbai North West constituency, which has a sizeable population of non-Marathi speakers would elect the Hindi-speaking Nirupam. During his tenure as an MLA, Kirtikar has also been a minister for home and tourism during the Sena-BJP government between 1995 and 1999.
His son Amol was a part of the Yuva Sena led by Aditya Thackeray and has been relatively low profile. The day the party announced his nomination from the Mumbai North West parliamentary constituency, he received summons from the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in what was called the ‘khichdi scam’ or irregularities in awarding contracts to distribute food to migrant workers and the homeless during the Covid lockdown. That was the time the Shiv Sena (UBT) had majority influence in the municipal corporation. Amol’s loss by 48 votes became the lowest victory margin in the polls.
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