Sena’s Kasba rebels resign from party; Dhanwade to contest as independent

The BJP-Sena alliance has given the seat to Pune mayor Mukta Tilak, and this led to a backlash among Sena diehards in the city

Vishal Dhanwade, the Shiv Sena corporator, contesting as an independent from the Kasba assembly constituency officially resigned from the party on Wednesday. The BJP-Sena alliance has given the seat to Pune mayor Mukta Tilak, and this led to a backlash among Sena diehards in the city.

Shiv Sena rebels from Kasba peth constituency express support to Vishal Dhanwale (centre) and resign form the party on Wednesday. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

At least 20 Sena rebels joined Dhanwade after resigning from the party

Dhanwade said, “We believe in the Sena ideology and in the future hope to remain with the Sena. To avoid a difficult situation for the party leadership, we are giving in our resignations.”

Dhanwade has earlier said, “As the party did not get a single seat in Pune I have decided to contest the Assembly elections from the Kasba peth constituency as an independent candidate. We have to keep Shiv Sena alive in Pune,” he said.

Former Shiv sainiks, requesting anonymity had alleged that the BJP has strategically killed Shiv Sena in the city. “The BJP has time and again used Shiv Sena leaders to protest as and when needed, but when the time came to allot seats, the BJP has backtracked,” one Sena party worker said.