Expelled members contested as independents against official candidates. Some rebels withdrew nominations, while others continue to challenge party nominees.

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday expelled functionaries Rupesh Kadam, former corporator Raju Pednekar, Mohit Pednekar, Bhagyashree Abhale, and Govind Waghmare due to their ‘anti-party activities‘. Raju Pednekar filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Versova, where the Sena (UBT) gave a ticket to former corporator Harun Khan.
Meanwhile, in the Sena led by Eknath Shinde, Mahesh Gaikwad, the Kalyan city chief, was expelled from the party. Mahesh filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Kalyan East, contesting against the Mahayuti candidate Sulbha Gaikwad. Mahesh Gaikwad will now contest as an independent candidate from the Kalyan East assembly constituency.
Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday expelled five party functionaries for anti-party activities. These include former MLA Rupesh Mhatre, Vishwas Nandekar, Chandrakant Ghugul, Sanjay Awari, and Prasad Thakre. Mhatre filed his nomination as an independent candidate from Bhiwandi East, where the Samajwadi Party’s sitting MLA Rais Shaikh is the Maha Vikas Aghadi’s (MVA) candidate.
However, late on Monday, the last day for withdrawing nominations, Mhatre pulled out of the contest. Vishwas Nandekar, district head of Wani in Yavatmal, Chandrakant Ghugul from Zari, Sanjay Awari from Maregaon, and Prasad Thackeray from Wani were expelled from the party for engaging in anti-party activities. This information was provided by the Shiv Sena (UBT) central office.
Mhatre decided to contest as an independent from Bhiwandi East as a rebel candidate. “He was expelled for not following the alliance dharma and also for making anti-party statements. His expulsion was due to not adhering to the alliance dharma and for speaking against the party,” said a senior Sena (UBT) functionary.
While many rebel candidates withdrew from the poll fray from the Sena (UBT), some are still fighting as independents after the party failed to pacify them and convince them to withdraw.
In Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, former Shiv Sena (UBT) Corporator Rajendra Waghmare withdrew his nomination. In Versova, Pednekar fighting the polls as an independent spells trouble for the official Sena (UBT) candidate Khan, who is pitted against the BJP’s sitting MLA Bharti Lavekar.