Maha: Sena (UBT) expels its functionary in Beed after he accuses party leader Sushma Andhare of seeking money

Jadhav also claimed that he slapped Andhare twice following a quarrel over the issue, but the latter maintained that nothing of that sort took place as he ran away from the spot.Jadhav said the incident occurred on Thursday night in Beed city, where a rally of Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut is scheduled to take place on Saturday.We are working for the party, but Sushma Andhare is demanding money from our party workers to install an air conditioner and buy furniture for her office.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Friday expelled its Beed district unit chief after he levelled allegations against party's deputy leader Sushma Andhare that she demanded money from local cadres to buy an air-conditioner and furniture for her office.

Along with Appasaheb Jadhav, the Beed district unit chief of the Sena (UBT), the party also took a similar disciplinary action against another local leader Dhondu Patil. The news about their expulsion was published in Friday's edition of 'Saamana', the mouthpiece of the Thackeray-led party.

In a video message on Thursday night, Jadhav accused Andhare of demanding money from the party workers to install an air conditioner and buy furniture in her office, although Andhare denied the allegation. Jadhav also claimed that he slapped Andhare twice following a quarrel over the issue, but the latter maintained that nothing of that sort took place as he ran away from the spot.

Jadhav said the incident occurred on Thursday night in Beed city, where a rally of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut is scheduled to take place on Saturday.

''We are working for the party, but Sushma Andhare is demanding money from our party workers to install an air conditioner and buy furniture for her office. She is also trying to sell my party post. Therefore, I had a clash with Andhare and slapped her twice.'' Reacting to his charges, Andhare, who is also a spokesperson of the party, later said in a Facebook live, ''These allegations (levelled by Jadhav) are laughable.'' She also blamed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, claiming that this episode was scripted by it. ''A big rally has been planned after a long time in Beed by Shiv Sena (UBT) and these allegations are an effort to malign the upcoming event. A clash erupted between Jadhav and some party workers at the rally ground. Along with the party's local leaders, I went to the spot to resolve the issue, but Jadhav ran away from there,'' she claimed.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Nanded over the Beed episode, party leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut on Friday said, ''The incident is unfortunate. Sushma Andhare is a deputy leader of the party. The party has taken cognisance of this incident and disciplinary action has been taken against Appasaheb Jadhav.'' The Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde currently shares power with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra, while the Shiv Sena (UBT) is part of the opposition bloc along with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.