Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis And Vinod Tawde Not On Same Page?

The BJP central leadership is quite convinced about the capacity and calibre of the party's general secretary, Vinod Tawde. His successful moves in Bihar have brought the party to power despite many odds source says. Keeping this in mind Tawde has been given very important responsibilities for the Kerala elections and it's almost sure that he will be able to retain his position of general secretary in the new team of Nitin Nabeen source says. But the close watchers of the party felt that Tawde is not very happy these days. On careful study, it emerges that, before the local body elections in Maharashtra, Tawde prepared a list of nearly 40 candidates to contest from Mumbai to Pune, a source says. 

He brought the list to Delhi and handed it over to the very senior leader to grant tickets, but it was politely said that the party had given full responsibility to the CM of Maharashtra, and it would be better to hand over the list to Fadnavis, source says. He flew to Mumbai and handed over, but to his great surprise, when the lists were announced, only one or two people were accommodated, the source says. He immediately brought the matter to the attention of the party's top authorities, requesting that the CM reconsider his request, as the names were shortlisted after careful study and consideration of candidates' winnability, the source says. 

The high command refused to intervene in the matter and conveyed that once responsibilities are given as policy, the high command does not interfere in the process, and the person is granted free hand to work, the source says. He was further advised that the party is taking care of him well. First, he was brought to the Council, then to the central team with very important responsibilities, and the party is planning to send him to the Rajya Sabha in due course, so he should be very careful and concentrate on his assigned work, the source says. 

It was further said that if he wants anyone to be reconsidered, it would be better to again approach Fadnavis source says. Tawde flew again to Mumbai and requested the CM, but he was bluntly told that the candidates were not selected by him. A well-thought-out process was followed and the person on top of the list drawn by agencies has been considered to issue tickets source says. Tawde was told the names he forwarded were not at the top on winnability merit thats why tickets were not given source says. Tawde returned but was not happy with the way his people were sidelined source says.