Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Thursday suspended eight rebel candidates from the party for a period of six years, Maharashtra Congress in-charge Ramesh Chennithala said.

“The party does not accept ‘friendly fights’ between Maha Vikas Aghadi allies anywhere in the state. What happened in Sangli during the Lok Sabha (when rebel Congress candidate Vishal Patil defeated Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate) will not be repeated,” he added. The eight leaders who were expelled for running as independent Rajendra Mulak of Ramtek, Jayashree Patil of Sangli, Kamal Vyavhare of Kasba Peth, Purshottam Hazare of Nagpur east, Aba Bagul of Parvati, Shamkant Saner of Sindkheda, Manish Anand of Shivaji Nagar, Pune and Savner’s Amol Deshmukh.

Currently, 18 rebels from the ruling Mahayiti alliance and another 23 rebels from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi party are in the fray.

But until a few weeks ago, this number of rebels was much larger and threatened to derail all political calculations. Between October 29, the last day for nominations to be filed, and November 4, the last day for withdrawal of nominations, the top brass of state units from almost all parties engaged in furious negotiations in an attempt to make push back the rebels.

A glimpse of what happened behind the scenes was offered by Congress leaders who drove to rebel leader Shamim Ansari’s house in Byculla to persuade him to contest as an independent candidate. “We went to Ansari, had him speak to Maharashtra in-charge Ramesh Chennithala and CWC member Naseer Hussain (the latter is attached to the Congress president’s office) and finally Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, also spoke to him,” revealed Umar Kamaal Farooqui who joined the Congress along with his father Kamaal ahead of the Maharashtra elections. For Byculla’s other rebel, Juned Patel, the party used the help of an influential local preacher, Sajjad Nomani, to persuade him to withdraw his candidature.

“Congress is the largest opposition party in Maharashtra. Naturally, many party leaders aspired to get a place. But in a coalition, the party must accommodate its allies. Our aim is to wage a strong and united struggle against the Mahayuti government and conquer the state. It was important to ensure that we did not have internal rebels in as many seats as possible,” said a central Congress leader involved in election management.

“In some cases, Chennithala had to assure the rebels that they would be rewarded once an MVA government was formed,” Farooqui said.

Central Congress leaders, especially President Mallikarjun Kharge, have adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards the rebels. “Leaders in Maharashtra have been asked to take a strong stance to send a broader message to voters and allies about the party’s intentions as well as the party organisation. “, said an executive close to Kharge.