Mumbai: In an unusually tough move ahead of the Assembly elections, the Maharashtra Congress President Nana F. Patole has ordered suspension of 28 rebels – comprising candidates or saboteurs – for a period of six years with immediate effect, a party leader said here Monday.
The two separate lists were released back-to-back late Sunday night, clamping down on 21 people who have stood in different Assembly constituencies defying the party’s directives and another seven who are blatantly undermining the prospects of official Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) nominees.
The list of seven saboteurs includes Shyamkant Saner (Sindhkheda), Rajendra Thakur (Shrivardhan), Aba Bagul (Parvati), Manish Anand (Shivajinagar), Sureshkumar Jethaliya and Kalyan Borade (Partur) and Chandrapal Choukse (Ramtek).
Among the 21 suspended, comprising six women, for defying party directives and contesting as rebel candidates in different constituencies, are Anandrao Gedam and Shilu Chimurkar (Armori), Sonal Kove and Bharat Yerme (Gadchiroli), Abhilasha Gavture and Raju Jhode (Ballarpur), Vilas R. Patil and Asma J. Chikhalekar (Bhiwandi), Manoj Shinde and Suresh Patil-Khede (Kopri-Pachpakhdi).
Besides there are Premsagar Ganveer (Bhandara), Ajay Lanjewar (Arjuni-Morgaon), Hanskumar Pandey (Mira-Bhayander), Kamal Vyawahare (Kasbapeth), Mohanrao Dandekar (Palus-Kadegaon), Mangal V. Bhujbal (Ahmednagar City), Vijay Khadse (Umarkhed), Shabbir Khan (Yavatmal), Avinash Lad (Rajapur), Yagnavalkya Jichkar (Katol) and Rajendra Mulak (Ramtek).
The clampdown by Patole – sending shockwaves in the party circles – came a day after AICC General Secretary Ramesh Chennithala warned that no indiscipline would be tolerated, there would be no ‘friendly contests’ and those who defy party directives would face tough consequences, to ensure that the prospects of the MVA candidates are not marred.
The other MVA allies including Shiv Sena (UBT) and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) have adopted a similar stance with zero tolerance for rebels, saboteurs or turncoats, dismissing any possibility of friendly fights, and making desperate attempts to avoid a vote-split owing to unauthorised candidates in the fray.
However, one rebel from Kasbapeth (Pune) Mukhtar Shaikh withdrew his nomination paper after getting calls promising to accommodate him with some other responsibility after the November 20 elections, the results of which will be declared November 23.