State BJP's move to field R N Singh and former MNS MLA Praveen Darekar for the Legislative Council election has made some of the leaders angry who have now ganged up against the duo and sought cancellation of their candidature to "save" the BJP's image from getting dented.
Twelve candidates, six from BJP, are in the fray for elections to 10 Legislative Council seats, scheduled for June 10.
A probe had been launched against Darekar under whose chairmanship a fraud had allegedly taken place in the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank.
Singh is accused of purchasing 105 acres of land in the coastal Ratnagiri district for a paltry sum of Rs 5.8 lakh in 2013 along with the wife of former Congress leader Kripashankar Singh who is facing charges of acquiring disproportionate assets.
Mumbai BJP secretary Vivekanand Gupta has openly opposed his party's decision to nominate Darekar and demanded cancellation of the the latter's candidature.
Gupta had filed FIR against Darekar last year in connection with the alleged fraud.
"The decision to give ticket to the scamster will definitely backfire as this has sent an extremely wrong signal to loyal party workers.
"The way the party has opened the gate to outsiders, party's old and loyal rank and file are feeling cheated. And to make it worse, those who have been given tickets have dark antecedents," he told PTI.
Gupta has requested BJP's state unit chief Raosaheb Danve to convene a meeting to hear their views on the issue.
BJP has fielded six candidates -- Surjit Singh Thakur, Pravin Darekar, Prasad Lad, R N Singh, Sadabhau Khot and Vinayak Mete, while Manoj Kotak, also of BJP, is in the fray as an Independent.
BJP secretary Sanjay Upadhyay said, "There is still time left. Party should cancel the nominations of these two tainted candidates Praveen Darekar and R N Singh to rectify the mistake that they have done. It will save the party's image".
Another senior leader of Mumbai BJP echoed the similar view.
"The decision to give tickets to outsiders and tainted people have shaken our confidence into the party. At a time when Congress and other parties have given tickets to their old and loyal party workers, BJP has hugged the scamsters and given a boot to the old and loyal party workers," he said.
