Sena corporators back party's rebel candidate in Nashik West

All 34 Shiv Sena corporators in the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) resigned from their posts on Tuesday to express support for party rebel Vilas Shinde who is contesting from Nashik West Assembly seat.

Apart from the corporators, 350 office-bearers of the Sena, including city unit leaders Sachin Marathe and Mahesh Badwe and NMC leader of opposition Ajay Boraste also quit their posts to support Shinde.

Shinde is the Sena's group leader in the corporation.

As per the seat-sharing deal between the Sena and BJP, the BJP got all three constituencies in the city - Nashik East, Nashik Central and Nashik West.

There is resentment among local Sena workers that the party is not contesting any of the seat in the city.

Shinde, who wanted to contest the October 21 Assembly election, rebelled and filed nomination from Nashik West against the alliance's official candidate, sitting BJP MLA Seema Hiray.

Nationalist Congress Party's Dr Apoorv Hiray, MNS's Dilip Datir who left the Shiv Sena and joined the MNS to get a ticket and Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Dr D L Karad are the other candidates in the fray from the constituency.