Maharashtra Election 2024: Maharashtra Congress Committee (MPCC) on Sunday night suspended seven additional rebel candidates to curb anti-party activities just ahead of the Maharashtra state assembly elections. The party has intensified disciplinary action. The suspended leaders include Shamkant Saner, Rajendra Thakur, Aba Bagul, Manish Anand, Suresh Kumar Jethalia, Kalyan Borade and Chandrapaul Chowksey. Earlier in the day, the MPCC had suspended 21 more rebels, taking the total number of suspensions to 28 in 22 constituencies.
The list of already suspended leaders includes Anandrao Gedam, Shilu Chimurkar, Sonal Covey, Bharat Yereme, Abhilasha Gavture, Premsagar Ganveer, Ajay Lanjewar, Vilas Patil, Asma Jawad Chikhlekar, Hanskumar Pandey, Kamal Vyavahe, Mohanrao Dandekar, Mangal Vilas Bhujwal, Manoj Shinde. , Suresh Patilkhede, Vijay Khadse, Shabbir Khan, Avinash Lad, Yagwalya Jichkar, Raju Jhode and Rajendra Muka. These suspended candidates are contesting against the official candidates of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA).
Earlier, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala had said that all party rebels contesting against official MVA candidates would face a six-year suspension.
Assembly elections in Maharashtra on 20 November
Maharashtra Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on November 20, with counting of votes for all 288 constituencies taking place on November 23. The opposition MVA alliance, comprising the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and the Nationalist Congress Party (SCP), seeks to regain power in the state, challenging the Mahayuti alliance, which includes the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), BJP), and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. In the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP won 105 seats, Shiv Sena won 56 seats and Congress won 44 seats. In 2014, BJP had won 122 seats, Shiv Sena 63 and Congress 42.
