Overview

• Sudhakar Badgujar and former minister Babanrao Gholap officially joined the BJP on June 17 in Mumbai under the supervision of state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
• Bawankule initially claimed he had no prior knowledge of Badgujar’s induction before personally presiding over the entry ceremony at the party headquarters.
• Nashik West MLA Seema Hiray and other local BJP leaders opposed Badgujar’s membership, pointing to at least 17 pending criminal cases and his alleged ties to underworld associate Salim Kutta.
• Badgujar’s expulsion from the Shiv Sena (UBT) earlier this month followed his meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, when he voiced discomfort with Uddhav Thackeray’s faction.
• Maharashtra Congress President Harshawardhan Sapkal labeled the BJP a “political washing machine” and questioned whether the party would next welcome fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.