NCP neta Ganesh Naik's nephew may join Sena

MUMBAI: The sparring uncle-nephew story appears imminent in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in Navi Mumbai. Vaibhav Naik is set to walk out of his uncle NCP strongman Ganesh Naik's shadow and is likely to join hands with the Shiv Sena. Political observers say that this is yet another instance of revolt by an ambitious nephew who was ignored by a neta.
Vaibhav is believed to have had a closed-door discussions with Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray and Sena Thane unit chief Eknath Shinde to explore the possibilities of a political shift to the saffron party. In fact, Vaibhav's father Tukaram had continued to be a loyal Sainik even after Ganesh Naik had quit Sena and switched over to the NCP over a decade ago.
Despite repeated attempts, Vaibhav was not available for comment. Shinde said, "He [Vaibhav] is yet to make an official announcement of his future plans. But the move reflects that even members of the ruling party have faith in the Opposition [Shiv Sena]. The credit also goes to Aditya as the party's Gen.Next leader has successfully managed to convince youngsters that Shiv Sena is the only alternative to unseat the ruling Congress-NCP."
Ganesh Naik and his family members were also not available for comment.
Aspiring to spread his political wings in Navi Mumbai, considered the fiefdom of Ganesh Naik, Vaibhav is not content playing second fiddle, say observers.
The Naik family has retained a firm-fisted control over Navi Mumbai with Ganesh Naik getting elected from the Belapur assembly segment, his elder son Sanjeev Naik getting elected to the Lok Sabha from the Thane parliamentary segment, younger son Sandeep bagging the Airoli assembly segment and nephew Sagar Naik becoming Navi Mumbai mayor.
parted ways with his uncle to form his own outfit the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Raj's MNS went on to badly damage the Sena in the 2009 polls