Shiv Sena takes massive lead in Dadra Lok Sabha bypoll; calls it a 'giant leap to Delhi'

Ecstatic at Shiv Sena's lead in Dadra & Nagar Haveli's lone Lok Sabha bypoll, Sanjay Raut on Tuesday, called it a giant leap towards Delhi. As per the latest EC results, Sena's candidate - Kalaben Delkar is leading the polls against her BJP rival Mahesh Gamit by 15,335 votes. The lone Lok Sabha seat in the Union territory fell vacant after Independent MP Mohan Delkar's shocking suicide in February 2021.

Sena: 'Giant leap to Delhi'

With this Lok Sabha win, the Mumbai-based Shiv Sena will successfully have spread its base outside Maharashtra. Sanjay Raut, who campaigned vigorously for Kalaben Delkar, termed the lead as a 'giant leap towards Delhi via Dadra Nagar Haveli'. As of date, while Kalaben Delkar has amassed 44,723 votes, her rival Mahesh Gamit has earned 29,388 votes.

On October 8, Kalaben, her son Abhinav joined Shiv Sena in the presence party chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya. Delkar's son had said that he held nothing against BJP, PM Modi or Amit Shah, but refused to join the saffron party till the officials allegedly responsible for his father's death were sacked. In the bypolls, kalaben faced Gavit - a tribal leader who was elected to the Dadra and Nagar Haveli district panchayat as a councillor on BJP's ticket.

Delkar commits suicide

Mohan Delkar was found dead in a hotel on Marine Drive on February 21, with a suicide note claiming "injustice, insult, partiality" against him by some politicians and administrative officials - naming some. Delkar's post-mortem report confirmed that his death was caused by 'asphyxia', as per the Mumbai Police. Mumbai Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on a charge of abetment to suicide in connection to his suicide.

Delkar - a 7-time Lok Sabha MP was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Dadra and Nagar Haveli constituency as an independent candidate. Subsequently, he was re-elected thrice under a Congress ticket (1991,1996,2009), thrice under a BJP ticket (1998,1999,2004) and later under a JD(U) ticket (2019). At the time of his death, he was not affiliated with any political outfit.

Initially, Shiv Sena had questioned BJP's silence over Delkar's death as he had committed suicide accusing the Dadra & Nagar Haveli Administration and officers of 'harassment'. Later, Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut raised the MP's death in the Lok Sabha's Zero Hour, seeking PM Modi's intervention. He also demanded the officers be sacked and tried for murder.