Maharashtra Polls: Uddhav Thackeray Expels 5 Sena UBT Leaders For Anti-Party Activities

Mhatre had filed his nomination as an Independent candidate from Bhiwandi where Samajwadi Party's sitting MLA Rais Shaikh has been fielded as the MVA's official candidate.

Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expelled five party functionaries for indulging in "anti-party activities", including former MLA Rupesh Mhatre.

Mhatre had filed his nomination as an Independent candidate from Bhiwandi where Samajwadi Party's sitting MLA Rais Shaikh has been fielded. According to the seat-sharing arrangement of the Maha Vikas Aghadi for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, SP's sitting MLA Rais Shaikh is the official candidate of the Opposition alliance from the constituency.

Mhatre had claimed that he had withdrawn his name from the contest by Monday evening, but he had to faced party's axe for making statements criticising the leadership over Muslim appeasement.

"The party asked me to withdraw and I abided by the instruction. Yet, I was sacked. This is the price for staying loyal and being with the party in its bad days," Mhatre told PTI. 

A Sena (UBT) functionary told new agency PTI that "Mhatre has been expelled for not following the alliance dharma and also for making anti-party statements."

Other expelled leaders include Wani district head Vishwas Nandekar, Chandrakant Ghugul from Yavatmal, Sanjay Awari from Malegaon, and Prasad Thakre from Wani in Nashik.

Around 14 leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi had filed nominations, defying party command. Among those who withdrew their nominations before the Monday deadline was Congress's Mukhtar Shaikh, who withdrew name from Pune's Kasba Peth assembly constituency. He later announced his support for the party's official candidate Ravindra Dhangekar.

The expulsions come at a time when the MVA alliance comprising of Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar), Shiv Sena (UBT) are putting up a united front against the ruling Mahayuti alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Ajit Pawar's NCP, and CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.

The Maharashtra Assembly Elections will be held in a single phase on November 20, while the counting of votes will be done on November 23.

In the 2019 Assembly elections, the BJP won 105 seats, the Shiv Sena 56, and the Congress 44. In 2014, the BJP secured 122 seats, the Shiv Sena 63, and the Congress 42.