Lok Sabha election: Seven-time Mumbai MLA Kalidas Kolambkar may dump Congress for BJP

MUMBAI: Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar is likely to join the BJP soon. Kolambkar, a seven-time MLA, has represented the Wadala-Naigaon constituency for over three decades.
Giving ample indications of where he was headed, a display board placed at Kolambkar’s office on Sunday, the day the Lok Sabha poll dates were announced, had only CM Devendra Fadnavis’s photo apart from his own.
Kolambar, originally a Shiv Sainik, left the Sena in 2005 along with former CM Narayan Rane and joined the Congress. Has long been known to be close to Rane. A close aide of Kolambkar told TOI that he has not been a part of the Congress for some time. “He did not attend any programme of the Congress, nor did he put up any boards displaying photos with Congress leaders.
He is also keeping a distance from former CM Rane,” the aide said. In the recent past, Kolambkar’s aide said, the MLA had an offer from the Shiv Sena but he refused to go back to the party. “He did not want to hurt Rane. That was the reason for refusing to join the Sena,” the aide said.