New Delhi, April 3: In a major rejig, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday dropped senior leader and sitting Mumbai North East MP Kirit Somaiya from its list of candidates. In his place, the  party has fielded Manoj Kotak from the constituency. The announcement was made as part of the 16th list of Lok Sabha elections 2019 candidates issued by the BJP.

Somaiya, considered to be among the prominent faces of the BJP in Maharashtra, has represented the high-profile Mumbai seat twice in the Parliament's Lower House. Reports claim that his candidature was unopposed by the party top brass, but ally Shiv Sena had raised severe apprehensions.

During the alliance talks held between BJP chief Amit Shah and his Sena counterpart Uddhav Thackeray in February, the candidature of Somaiya was one of the major bone of contentions.

Sena had threatened to back rebels in Mumbai North East seat if Somaiya is fielded again by the party. The animosity against him stems from the alleged role played by the lawmaker in defecting Sena corporators to the BJP ahead of the BMC elections 2017.

Kotak, a civic corporator, was considered to be a suitable candidate to replace Somaiya due to his Gujarat-background. With people of the neighbouring state's origin forming a bulk in this constituency, BJP insiders claim that the party made sure that it holds on to the Gujarati vote share.

Voting in the Mumbai North East constituency, along with the other 6 parliamentary seats in the region, will take place on April 29 -- when the fourth phase of the general elections will be held.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 03, 2019 04:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).