BMC elections 2026: Parties rush to rein in rebels ahead of withdrawal deadline

Political tension in Mumbai has reached its peak as Friday marks the deadline for candidates to withdraw their nomination papers for the upcoming BMC elections 2026Till 300 pm candidates can pull out of the raceMajor alliances scramble to control rebel damageMajor political fronts including the ThackerayMNS alliance and the BJPShiv Sena coalition are working frantically to pacify rebel members who have filed independent nominations after being denied official party tickets reported IANSParty leadership is making lastminute efforts to resolve internal discontent to avoid a split in the vote bank that could prove fatal in a closely contested electionCM Fadnavis Dy CM Shinde intervene to quell rebellionChief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has already swung into action to pacify rebels and so has Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to quell the rebellion reported IANSThackeray brothers reach out separately to rebelsSimilarly the Thackeray brothers have separately launched communication with rebels asking them to withdraw their nominationsThe alliance between Uddhav Thackerays Shiv Sena UBT and Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS is facing significant internal heatIndependents challenge official alliance candidates in nine wardsSeveral loyalists have filed independent papers against official alliance candidates in at least nine wardsIn ward no 95 Shiv SenaUBT candidate is Hari Shashtri party rebel Chandrashekhar Wingankar ward no 106 MNS nominee Satyavan Dalvi Shiv Sena rebel Sagar Devore ward no 114 Shiv Sena UBT nominee Rajol Patil MNS rebel Anisha Majgaonkar ward no 169 Shiv Sena UBT candidate Pravina Morajkar party rebel Kamalakar Naik and ward no 193 Shiv SenaUBT candidate Hemangi Woralikar party rebel Suryakant Koli reported IANSMore rebel challenges in UBT and MNS strongholdsIn ward no 196 Shiv SenaUBT nominee Padmaja Chemburkar party rebel Sangita Jagtap ward no 202 Shiv Sena UBT nominee Shraddha Jadhav party rebel Vijay Indulkar ward no 203 Shiv SenaUBT nominee Bharati Pednekar party rebel Divya Badve and ward no 197 MNS nominee Rachana Salvi Shiv Sena UBT rebel Sharvani Desai reported IANSBJP nominees challenged by rebels across MumbaiSimilarly the BJP is also dealing with a wave of friendly fight in several key wards where established workers have revolted against the partys choice of nomineesIn ward number 177 BJP nominee Kalpana Kotharis nomination is challenged by the party rebel Nehal Shah ward number 205 BJP nominee Varsha Shinde rebel Janhvi Rane ward number 155 BJP nominee Varsha Shetye rebels Jayshree Kharat Harsha Salve and Sashikala Kamble ward number 225 BJP nominee Harshita Narwekar faces challenges from rebels Kamalakar Dalvi and Sujata Sanap in ward number 226 BJP nominee Makarand Narwekar is being opposed by rebel Anil Patil ward number 7 BJP nominee Ganesh Khankar Shiv Sena rebel Bhupendra Kashinath ward number 8 BJP nominee Yogita Patil rebel Amruta Koli and ward number 25 BJP nominee Nisha Parulekar rebel Shekhar Shere reported IANSFurther in ward number 182 BJP nominee Rajan Parkar rebel Shraddha Patil ward number 54 BJP nominee Vilas Avasare rebel Gajendra Dhumal ward number 200 BJP nominee Sandeep Pansande rebel Gajendra Dhumale ward number 60 BJP nominee Sayali Kulkarni rebel Divya Dhole and ward number 64 BJP nominee Sarita Rajapure rebel Maya Rajput reported IANSIn ward number 173 Shiv Sena candidate Puja Kamble faces a challenge from rebel Vaishali Pagare reported IANSAs the 300 pm clock ticks down the final landscape of the BMC elections 2026 will become clear revealing whether party loyalty or individual rebellion will dominate the ballot box on January 15With inputs from PTI