MNS expels 4 party leaders in Aurangabad

Aurangabad: The recent visit of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) party chief Raj Thackeray has opened pandora’s box for the local MNS unit.
After Thackeray sacked the Aurangabad district MNS president Suhas Dashrathe, taking many by surprise, and reorganized the delegation of powers, the newly appointed office-bearers expelled four party leaders on Wednesday.
Sandeep Kulkarni, Chetan Sharma, Ramesh Puri and Deepak Pawar are the four-party functionaries who have faced ‘disciplinary action’ in the form of expulsion.Notably, some of these leaders were associated with MNS since its genesis in 2006.
As the cracks are wide open within the local unit of MNS, the infighting and bickering could prove costly for the MNS ahead of preparations for the elections. Dashrathe, who left Shiv Sena two years back to join MNS, has been accused of ‘autocratic’ behaviour. Taking note of such complaints, the MNS chief asked him to step down.
A local MNS leader, preferring anonymity, said, “Many loyal party workers are either made to quit or sidelined completely. We will appraise the party chief about the unrest before deciding our future strategy,” said.
When contacted, MNS state spokesperson Prakash Mahajan said, “After Dashrathe was asked to step down, a few leaders were found making defamatory comments against the party over the social media. We have zero tolerance for such gross indiscipline.