The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped 65-year-old sitting MP Kirit Somaiya as the party's candidate for Mumbai North East seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after ally Shiv Sena's objection. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray refused to forgive Kirit Somaiya for attacks on the party, reports said. The BJP has fielded Manoj Kotak instead of Somaiya from the seat.

In 2016, Mr. Somaiya had responded sharply to Mr. Thackeray's dare to PM Modi to conduct "surgical strikes" on Swiss banks to bring back black money. He had said Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav "and Uddhav Thackeray" should clarify if they were worried about poor people or those with "boxes of money". Mr. Somaiya had also said he would expose "mafia" in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and take on their "godfather", hinting at the Sena chief.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has dropped 65-year-old sitting MP Kirit Somaiya as the party's candidate for Mumbai North East seat for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after ally Shiv Sena's objection. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray refused to forgive Kirit Somaiya for attacks on the party, reports said. The BJP has fielded Manoj Kotak instead of Somaiya from the seat.

In 2016, Mr. Somaiya had responded sharply to Mr. Thackeray's dare to PM Modi to conduct "surgical strikes" on Swiss banks to bring back black money. He had said Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav "and Uddhav Thackeray" should clarify if they were worried about poor people or those with "boxes of money". Mr. Somaiya had also said he would expose "mafia" in Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and take on their "godfather", hinting at the Sena chief.