Congress suspends seven corporators in Jalna for helping BJP in council nomination

CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: Congress on Wednesday suspended seven of itscorporators in Jalna Municipal Corporation (JMC) for not following the party line.The corporators who have faced action are accused of colluding with the BJP and spoiling the party's chance of nominating its co-opted member.The maiden election for Jalna Municipal Corporation recently saw BJP sweeping the poll by winning 41 out of 65 seats with Congress having nine corporator selected. Considering its strength, Congress had a quota of one co-opted member in Jalna municipal council.Acting on the recommendation of the local Congress unit, state Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal has announced the suspension of seven corporators — identified as Farooq Sadiq Tundiwale (group leader), Imran Khan Amanullah Khan, FarhanaRauf Ansari, Sunil Borde, MayuriDene, RubinaPathan and Anil Tirukhe."Seven corporators in question, including the group leader, openly backed the BJP candidate for the post of co-opted member. Disciplinary action was sought against them for not following the party line," Congress general secretary Jitendra Dehade said.Cracks were wide open in the Congress in Jalna when the district unit recommended a local leader for the post of co-opted member, but seven out of nine corporators opposed it.Eventually, the name of a local BJP leader who lost the municipal polls was recommended by the Congress group leader and it was only considered valid as per rules.