Congress to take legal action against 12 corporators suspended for joining BJP

All 12 corporators, who were suspended by the Congress on Wednesday for forming an alliance with the BJP in the Ambernath Municipal Council to contest the municipal corporation elections against the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, promptly joined the BJP on Thursday, Maharashtra state BJP President Ravindra Chavan said.

The 12 Ambernath Congress corporators, who joined the BJP, are ward president Pradeep Nana Patil, Darshana Umesh Patil, Archana Charan Patil, Harshada Pankaj Patil, Tejaswini Milind Patil, Vipul Pradeep Patil, Manish Mhatre, Dhanalakshmi Jaishankar, Sanjawani Rahul Devde, Dinesh Gaikwad, Kiran Badrinath Rathod and Kabir Naresh Gaikwad.

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“The people elected these corporators and they had promised development to them. They believe that the BJP-led government is dynamic and capable of delivering justice and development. Since the government is working in a dynamic manner, justice can be given to the people. Therefore, these corporators are joining the party,” Chavan said here on Thursday.

It may be recalled that on Wednesday, the Congress suspended its Ambernath ward president Pradeep Patil, informing him in a letter that his ward unit itself has been dissolved. The letter stated that all corporators elected on the Congress symbol have been suspended from the party for forming an alliance with the BJP, without informing the party’s Maharashtra state leadership.

Maharashtra State Congress Committee President Harshvardhan Sapkal took immediate action on Wednesday against the 12 corporators from Ambernath for not informing the party while forming an alliance with the BJP. Their move was widely criticised across the political spectrum, including Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Reacting to the news of the suspended Congress corporators joining the BJP, Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said that the party would take legal action to cancel the membership of 12 corporators from Ambernath. “The 12 corporators who were elected on the Congress party symbol in the Ambernath municipal elections have joined the BJP. This is completely illegal and the Congress party will take legal action to cancel the membership of all these 12 corporators. Forming an independent group or later joining another party is not only immoral but also unconstitutional. Legal notices will be issued to all of them soon,” he told media persons on Thursday.

“The Maharashtra State Committee of the Congress suspended a Congress corporator and ward president for trying to ally with the BJP-led Ambernath Vikas Aghadi in Ambernath. But why did the BJP not take any action against its corporators even though the BJP itself had offered alliance to the Congress corporators,” Sachin Sawant asked.