12 Congress councillors who won seats in the Ambernath Municipal Council have now been suspended by the Congress party after they allied with the BJP, NCP Ajit Pawar party to keep Shiv Sena out of power.
The decision was finalised by Congress state president Harshwardhan Sapkal.
Election for the 60 seats in the Ambernath Municipal Council took place on December 20. When the results came out, Shiv Sena emerged with a majority, winning 27 seats. It was followed by the BJP, which won 14 seats. Congress and NCP Ajit Pawar won 12 and four seats respectively. Three independents also won in the election.
Right after the municipal elections, the BJP and Congress, with the Ajit-Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, joined hands to outnumber the large Shiv Sena Shinde group. The alliance comprised the 14 BJP councillors, 12 Congress councillors and 4 NCP councillors and 1 independent, making up a total of 32, giving them a clear majority in the council.
The alliance was formed post-poll and was significant because it gave them a majority despite the Shiv Sena dominating the election.
BJP leader Tejashree Karanjule was elected President (Mayor) of the Ambernath Municipal Council after defeating the Sena’s Manisha Walekar.
The state Congress leaders considered the alliance a violation of party discipline, which led to the expulsions.
The Ambernath Congress executive has also been dismissed.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis warned BJP leaders involved in the alliance of strict actions on Wednesday. "If any local BJP leaders have entered into alliances with these parties (AIMIM, Congress) without approval, it is a serious breach of party discipline and strict action will be taken," he said after BJP leaders announced the decision.
Ambernath has been a stronghold of the Shiv Sena (Shinde). It is part of the parliamentary constituency of Shinde's son, Dr Shrikant Shinde, and he had personally monitored the election in Ambernath.
The BJP had reached out to the Sena to join hands multiple times; however, they received no callbacks.
BJP Vice President Gulabrao Karanjule Patil has said that the alliance with the Congress was to counter the corruption of the Shinde party, which was in power for the last 25 years.
The municipal council is now set for a re-election.
Shiv Sena (Shinde) pointed out the hypocrisy of the BJP's strategy. The group's legislator, Dr Balaji Kinikar, said that the BJP, which promised a Congress-free India, is now resorting to attacking the Shinde group alongside the Congress purely for power.
Senior vice president of State Congress, Ganesh Patil, said, "This is a completely wrong action and a violation of party discipline. Considering this matter, by order of the Hon'ble State President, Harshvardhan Sapkal, you are hereby suspended from the Congress party. Furthermore, your Block Congress Executive Committee is being dissolved. Similarly, all the corporators who have violated party discipline along with you are also being suspended from the party."
A similar alliance was formed in the Akot Muncipal Council between the BJP and the AIMIM in the Akola district.
With inputs from Mumbai bureau
