Maharashtra council polls: Congress suspends two candidates for withdrawing nominations

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Friday suspended two candidates from the party for withdrawing their nominations for the Legislative Council elections at the last moment.

The party served the suspension orders to Shailesh Agrawal, who was the candidate from Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli, and Sahebrao Kamble, fielded from the Yavatmal local body constituency.

The party said Kamble and Agarwal were announced as party candidates on their requests. However, they misled the leadership and later withdrew their candidature, creating difficulty for the party, the suspension orders said.


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Their primary memberships in the Congress have been cancelled, the party said.

The ruling Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, is set to win five of the 17 seats unopposed in this month's council elections, as the opposition candidates, including Kamble and Agarwal, in these constituencies withdrew their nominations before the deadline ended on Thursday.

The council polls are scheduled for June 18, and votes will be counted on June 22. Members of local self-government bodies comprise the electoral college for these elections.