The BJP on Wednesday dropped sitting MP Kirit Somaiya, apparently deferring to ally Shiv Sena’s strong opposition to fielding the veteran again and ending days of suspense over whom the national party would nominate from the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha seat.

Manoj Kotak, a councillor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), has replaced Somaiya, a known baiter of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Sena sources said the party had nothing to do with the move to replace Somaiya.

Kotak, the BJP’s group leader in the civic body, would take on NCP candidate and former MP Sanjay Dina Patil, who had lost to Somaiya in the 2014 elections.

Somaiya had earlier won this Lok Sabha seat in 1999.

Interestingly, Kotak was the first BJP leader to raise his voice against an alleged multi-crore scam in the Sena-ruled BMC. He was fielded in the legislative council elections by the BJP last year, but was asked to withdraw because of political compulsions to accommodate alliance partners.

Somaiya is the only MP the BJP has dropped from the three seats it is contesting out of the six across Mumbai and its suburbs.

The Sena is contesting in the remaining three, according to a seat-share deal between the two parties.

Kotak’s candidature came as a blow to Somaiya who had already started preparations for contesting the seat. But Sena leaders had been staunchly opposed to his re-nomination for his caustic remarks purportedly directed at the party brass.

In the run-up to the 2017 BMC elections, which the BJP and the Sena had contested separately, Somaiya had talked about the “mafia of Bandra”.

The remarks were perceived to be directed at Uddhav, whose residence “Matoshree” is located in suburban Bandra.

Sena workers had even threatened not to campaign for the BJP if Somaiya was fielded again from the constituency.

The Sena MLA from Bhandup constituency, Sunil Raut, had announced that he would contest as an Independent if Somaiya was given a ticket again.

BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said all decisions related to fielding candidates were taken by the party’s central parliamentary board. “A lot of thought process goes into the selection of a candidate. Only our national president can comment over why Somaiyaji has not been fielded this time,” Bhandari said.

Senior BJP leader Vinod Tawde said the decision was taken after considering the “ground realities”.

“In the decision taken by the central parliamentary board of the BJP, Manoj Kotak’s name was announced from the Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency. Somaiya has contested Assembly and Lok Sabha elections and even won them in the past. However, the decision this time has been taken keeping the ground realities in mind,” he told reporters.

Tawde, MLA from Borivli in North Mumbai, said Somaiya would be “adequately compensated” in view of his seniority, adding that the Sena had nothing to do with the move to replace Somaiya.

A source in the BJP said a section of party workers too did not want Somaiya to contest. “There was unrest against him since he supported the realignment of the Ghatkopar-Kasarvadavali Metro line which passes through residential areas, instead of running it close to the Eastern Express Highway,” he said.