Sena, NCP fight rebels in their ranks

The banner of revolt raised by former Mumbai mayor Ramesh Prabhu has raised a few eyebrows here. Prabhu has been associated with the Sena since the party’s inception. He filed his nomination papers on Monday, and he is in no mood to reconsider his decision. Prabhu was followed by Chiplun legislator Bhaskar Jadhav. The rebel formed the ‘Bhaskar Sena’ after being denied the Sena ticket. Jadhav filed his papers as an Independent candidate.

Former Minister of State for Urban Development Ravindra Mane was pacified by senior Shiv Sena leader and former Lok Sabha speaker Manohar Joshi. In 1999, Mane had been elected from Sangameshwar in the Konkan region. Mane and Jadhav are trusted Joshi aides.

In Mumbai too, Shrikant Sarmalkar will contest against the official Sena nominee from Kherwadi, Bala Sawant. Dadar legislator Vishakha Raut was denied nomination. She sounded Thackeray, but did not make the list.

Uddhav Thackeray is likely to make a statement on the rebellion on Wednesday. A senior Shiv Sena MP admitted that the developments in the organisation were shocking. ‘‘We were badly mauled in the Lok Sabha elections. If we are not able to contain the rebellion, we are in for a major setback in the ensuing Assembly elections,’’ the MP predicted.

Senior BJP leaders Hemendra Mehta and Abhiram Singh have condemned the party leadership for denying them nominations. Solapur BJP leader Narsingh Meghji, Deogad leader Sudhir Joshi and Hemchandra Kapgate from Bhandara are in the process of filing their nomination as Independents against the official nominees.

State BJP chief Gopinath Munde is facing a major challenge from NCP nominee Phoolchand Karad, once a trusted aide. Six months ago, Karad joined the NCP to protest against Munde’s ‘‘autocratic functioning’’.

Senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar—nephew of NCP chief Sharad Pawar—is the new target for rebel leaders. On the day Ajit Pawar filed his nomination papers, his trusted aides Popatrao Tupe (president, Baramati Cooperative Bank) and Sunil Pote (former president, Baramati Municipal Council) quit the NCP to join the Shiv Sena.

During the Lok Sabha elections, Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, a close Pawar aide, quit the NCP and successfully contested from Khed as a Shiv Sena nominee. More than a dozen rebel NCP candidates are in the fray.

NCP general secretary Gurunath Kulkarni said it was premature to react on the rebellion within the party. Wednesday is the last day for filing nomination.

‘‘We will talk with the rebels. We will appeal to them to withdraw in the larger interest of the secular parties,’’ said Kulkarni. BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde admitted that initially, there were a large number of rebels, but subsequently their strength has dwindled. ‘‘We are talking to them individually. I am sure most of them will withdraw on the last day (Saturday),’’ remarked Tawde.