MUMBAI: Adding to the ongoing family dramas in this assembly election, 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 Shiv Sena ( UBT ) candidate. An angry Babanrao sent her a legal notice asking her to refrain from using her and her husband’s name 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 assembly 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 of the Shiv Sena (UBT). He was denied this and subsequently joined the Eknath Shinde-led Sena in April 2024. When the Sena (UBT) fielded Deolali’s Yogesh again, Babanrao immediately left the Shinde-led Sena and returned to the Thackeray faction.

BJP’s Tanuja Gholap has been preparing for the assembly elections for five years. But when the Ajit Pawar-led NCP joined the Mahayuti government, the Deolali seat went to MLA Saroj Ahire. Tanuja filed her candidacy as an independent, although her own elder brother fights from the Sena (UBT).

Tanuja, who is married to Nilesh Bhoir, filed her nomination with her maiden name ‘Tanuja Babanrao Gholap’. An angry Babanrao sent her a notice, warning her not to use her name to mislead people and not to use her husband’s name.

When contacted, Tanuja said it was wrong for her father to send her such a notice as he had contested the local body elections twice in the past under the same name. “He never objected then, so how can he object now?” she asked. When asked about the discussion in the family about withdrawing her name, Tanuja said she would decide on Monday.

When contacted, Yogesh Gholap said he was not involved in the tip-off and only Babanrao Gholap knew the details. “Conversations are being held in the family and with Tanuja about withdrawing her candidacy,” he said. “Let’s see what he decides.”

Babanrao Gholap said he would probably withdraw the notification and Tanuja might withdraw from the candidacy. “Tomorrow is the last day to withdraw and Tanuja will decide then,” he said.

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