The Victorian Liberals will re-run a preselection battle involving controversial MP Moira Deeming after the party blocked the candidate who won top spot.
The party voted against Ms Deeming, an upper house MP, in a preselection battle on Sunday, replacing her with Dinesh Gourisetty as its number one candidate for the western metropolitan region seat.
But a day later Mr Gourisetty was facing pressure from within the party to step aside, following revelations he provided a character reference to a man convicted of grooming and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in 2021.
Kashyap Patel pleaded guilty in 2024 to one count each of grooming a child under 16 years of age, transmitting indecent communication to a person under 16 years of age, and sexual assault of a child under 16 years of age.
The County Court judgement reveals Patel received a character reference from his “good friend of 4 years” Dinesh Gourisetty.
Jess Wilson says Dinesh Gourisetty is not welcome on her team. (ABC News)
In a statement, Victorian Liberal Party president Philip Davis said Mr Gourisetty had withdrawn on Monday morning.
“Dinesh Gourisetty this morning advised me of his decision to withdraw his candidacy from position 1 on the Liberal Party’s Group Voting Ticket in the Western Metropolitan Region,” Mr Davis said.
“This was accepted.”
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson also said she had made it clear to the party on Monday morning that Mr Gourisetty could not remain on the ticket.Â
“Mr Gourisetty is not welcome on my team,” she said in a statement.
But in a letter sent to party executives, Mr Gourisetty said he condemned Patel’s actions and at the time of providing the reference was unaware of the details of the case.Â
“I had no knowledge of the seriousness or full nature of the allegations. I acted in good faith, based on what I knew at the time,” he wrote in the letter.
“I do not raise this to compare circumstances directly, but to highlight that such actions have historically been understood as expressions of personal character assessment, not endorsements of wrongdoing.”
Mr Gourisetty also pointed to other senior Liberal figures who had in the past provided character references for people facing allegations.
Moira Deeming was first elected in 2022. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
In the letter, Mr Gourisetty asserted his intention to remain on the ticket and expressed his disappointment in the pressure placed on him to withdraw.
“Instead of feeling supported, I feel I have been pushed towards withdrawing, and even advised to consider resigning from the party I have served with dedication for so many years,” he said.
But hours later, in another statement, Mr Davis once again said Mr Gourisetty had withdrawn.
“Earlier today Mr Dinesh Gourisetty advised me of his decision to withdraw from the First Position on the Liberal Party’s Group Voting Ticket for the Western Metropolitan Region,” he said.
“After yesterday’s preselection convention had concluded, the Liberal Party received information concerning Mr Dinesh Gourisetty which is considered to be of a serious nature.
“The Victorian Liberal Party’s State Executive has resolved that a further preselection convention will be held for the First Position on the Liberal Party’s Group Voting Ticket for the Western Metropolitan Region, and that Mr Dinesh Gourisetty will not be eligible to participate as a candidate in that convention.”
Ms Deeming was first elected to the upper house in 2022.Â
She sparked controversy within her party after attending anti-trans-rights rally, Let Women Speak, that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis in 2023.
She condemned the actions of the neo-Nazis but was suspended and then expelled from the parliamentary Liberal Party after threatening defamation action against then-leader John Pesutto.Â
Ms Deeming returned to the party room after successfully suing Mr Pesutto with a court finding he had defamed her by implying she associated or sympathised with Nazis.