MUMBAI: Adding to the ongoing family dramas in these assembly elections, Tanuja Gholap, daughter of former minister Babanrao Gholap, has filed her nomination as an independent candidate from Deolali, from where her elder brother Yogesh Gholap is contesting as a Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate. An irritated Babanrao sent her a legal notice asking her to refrain from using her name and that of her husband while contesting the elections.

Deolali in Nashik is a constituency reserved for scheduled caste candidates. It was once the stronghold of Babanrao, who won five parliamentary elections there on a Shiv Sena ticket from 1990 to 2009. His son Yogesh won the seat in 2014 but was defeated by Saroj of the undivided NCP in 2019.

Meanwhile, Babanrao Gholap tried to get a ticket for the Lok Sabha elections from Shirdi constituency from the Shiv Sena (UBT). He was denied this and later joined the Eknath Shinde-led Sena in April 2024. When the Sena (UBT) fielded Yogesh from Deolali again, Babanrao immediately left the Shinde-led Sena and returned to the Thackeray faction.

Tanuja Gholap, who is part of the BJP, has been preparing for the parliamentary elections for five years. But as the Ajit Pawar-led NCP joined the Mahayuti government, the Deolali seat went to sitting MP Saroj Ahire. Tanuja filed her nomination as an independent despite her own elder brother fighting in the Sena (UBT).

Tanuja, married to Nilesh Bhoir, applied under her maiden name ‘Tanuja Babanrao Gholap’. An angry Babanrao sent her a notice warning her not to use her name to mislead people and to use her husband’s name.

When contacted, Tanuja said it was a mistake on her father’s part to send her such a notice as in the past she had contested local body elections twice under the same name. “He never opposed it then, so how can he object now? she asked. Asked about discussions within the family regarding removing her name, Tanuja said she would make a decision by Monday.

When contacted, Yogesh Gholap said he was not involved in the notice and only Babanrao Gholap knew the details. “Discussions are underway within the family and with Tanuja regarding the withdrawal of his candidature,” he said. “Let’s see what she decides.”

Babanrao Gholap said he would likely withdraw his candidacy and Tanuja might withdraw from the candidacy. “Tomorrow is the last day to withdraw and Tanuja will make a decision then,” he said.

In 1998, social activist Anna Hazare accused Gholap of corruption. In return, Gholap filed a defamation suit and Hazare had to spend three months in Yerawada prison. Much later, in 2014, a special court found Gholap and his wife Shashikala guilty of owning assets disproportionate to their known sources of income. Recalling the incident, Hazare wrote a letter to Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray in 2014, saying: “Gholap filed a defamation case against me in which he misled the judiciary by presenting false evidence and witnesses. »