The Congress party has suspended three of its rebel candidates — Aba Bagul, Kamal Vyavahare and Manish Anand — who are contesting the November 20 Maharashtra Assembly polls from three seats in Pune city. The state unit of the party said the three have been suspended from primary membership for a period of six years.
Aba Bagul has rebelled in the Parvati Assembly constituency where NCP (SP) candidate Ashwini Kadam is contesting. Kamal Vyavahare has rebelled in the Kasba Peth seat against party candidate Ravindra Dhangekar, while Manish Anand has rebelled against Congress's Datta Bahirat in Shivajinagar constituency.
"All those who have rebelled against MVA candidates across Maharashtra have been suspended for a period of six years. They were earlier asked to support official MVA candidates, but they refused to budge," said Maharashtra Congress chief spokesperson Atul Londhe.
Pune City Congress President Arvind Shinde said the three had been earlier issued a 24-hour ultimatum to withdraw their nominations from the respective Assembly constituencies. "Since the three refused to comply, they now face expulsion from the party for six years. A resolution has also been passed by the MVA to ensure these candidates and their family members are not accepted by any MVA-affiliated party in future municipal or state elections," he added.
Bagul is the incumbent vice-president of the party, Anand is a former vice-president of the Khadki Cantonment Board, and Vyavahare is a former Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) mayor.
