'No friendly fights in MVA': Congress cracks down on all rebels in Maharashtra, suspends them for 6 yrs

In a decisive move ahead of the crucial assembly elections, Congress announced that all party rebels contesting against official candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance have been suspended for six years. The Congress district units have been directed to compile a list of remaining rebels and issue notices to them.

"There will be no friendly fights. All rebels contesting against the MVA's official candidates have been suspended," said Ramesh Chennithala, who serves as the All India Congress Committee in-charge of Maharashtra. The MVA, an opposition alliance, comprises Congress, Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT), and Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (SP).

The announcement follows similar disciplinary actions within other parties in Maharashtra, where internal party conflicts have surfaced as rebels go against the official candidates. On Wednesday, the Maharashtra BJP expelled 40 of its local functionaries for anti-party activities, including those who filed nominations against the BJP and its Mahayuti allies' official candidates. The list of expellees also includes those supporting rebels. Notably, Tushar Bharatiya, the brother of BJP leader Shrikant Bharatiya and a rebel candidate from the Badnera assembly seat, was among those expelled.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, took similar action, expelling Vijay Dakle, a party functionary, for contesting as an independent candidate. Dakle is running against BJP leader and Mahayuti's official candidate Chandrakant Patil in the Kothrud constituency. Despite repeated instructions to withdraw, Dakle chose to persist with his independent candidacy, leading to his expulsion from the party. A letter issued by NCP city unit president Deepak Mankar confirmed Dakle’s expulsion, citing defiance against the alliance’s interests.

Reports indicate that approximately 50 rebel candidates, spanning both the ruling Mahayuti and the opposition MVA, are still in the race. Among them, 26 belong to the Mahayuti alliance, while 18 are from the MVA camp. These rebels are mainly contesting as independents, often in direct opposition to their parties' official candidates, which could potentially harm the electoral prospects of the sanctioned candidates.