Shiv sena minister arjun khotkar firm on contesting from jalna

Khotkar is keen to fight against BJP state unit president Raosaheb Danve. Shiv Sena minister Arjun Khotkar (Left) Infighting is not only a Congress-NCP problem anymore. Shiv Sena minister

Arjun Khotkar is firm on contesting poll from the Jalna Lok Sabha constituency. He met party chief for more than ninety minutes and yet was unrelenting to concede his demand to contest.

Khotkar is keen to fight against BJP state unit president Raosaheb Danve. Now, both Thackeray and chief minister Devendra Fadnavis would have a meeting with Khotkar at Aurangabad on Sunday

morning. It is uncertain hence, whether BJP state Chief's name will be included when the party releases its first list of Lok sabha candidates for the state. Khotkar has an old rivalry

with Danve and he had announced that he would contest against Danve to defeat him. Khotkar had also announced that if BJP and Shiv Sena strike an alliance then he would defect to Congress to

defeat Danve. After meeting with Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, Khotkar maintained that he is not in touch with any other political party in this regard. Interestingly, when Khotkar met

Thackeray at Matoshri bungalow in Bandra, Maharashtra minister for women and child development Pankaja Munde accompanied Khotkar. Munde told media persons that she has a cordial relation

with the Thackeray family and had visited Matoshri to seek blessings from Uddhav Thackeray. She refused to comment on whether Khotkar would contest from Jalna or not. Meanwhile, both

Fadnavis and Danve were in New Delhi on Saturday for the Central Election Committee meeting of the party where Maharashtra seats were discussed. Chief Minister Fadnavis and Thackeray would

be addressing two meetings of office bearers of BJP and Sena at Aurangabad and Nashik on Sunday. Before the Aurangabad meeting, both Fadnavis and Thackeray would meet Khotkar again to

convince him against contesting Lok Sabha elections. Khotkar told media persons that he has told Thackeray that let there be a friendly fight which he would win improving the Sena tally by

one. He also seems to have convinced Thackeray as to how local atmosphere favours him and he can win the seat.