Another Sena MP ditches Uddhav Thackeray, joins Eknath Shinde’s camp
The Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray received a jolt after MP Gajanan Kirtikar switched his loyalty and joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp.
The Shiv Sena faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, now known as the Shiv Sena–Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, received a jolt after MP Gajanan Kirtikar switched his loyalty and joined Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s camp.
Kirtikar joined Shinde’s camp, now known as Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, at an event in Mumbai in the presence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and several other Sena leaders. Subsequently, the Sena camp led by Thackeray came out with a release stating that Kirtikar had been expelled from the party.
Kirtikar switching party loyalties has created quite a flutter in Uddhav Thackeray’s camp as he is the 13th MP to join the Shinde faction. He was also the national executive of the unified Shiv Sena.
There are six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, three of which are with the BJP and three with the Shiv Sena. Out of the three Shiv Sena MPs in Mumbai, two have already joined the Shinde camp. While Kirtikar joined the Shinde camp on Friday, Shiv Sena MP Rahul Shiwale toed behind Shinde when he broke ranks from the unified Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena’s Lok Sabha MP Arvind Sawant is still associated with Thackeray’s camp.
Kirtikar’s move was not a complete surprise as he was regularly in touch with Eknath Shinde. Shinde had visited Kirtikar’s house after becoming Maharashtra Chief Minister. Kirtikar had gone to Shinde’s official residence ‘Varsha’ during Ganeshotsav.
Kirtikar’s move has come as a shot in the arm for the Shinde camp ahead of the hearing before the Election Commission, which will take a call on which is the real Shiv Sena.
The Shiv Sena broke into two factions in June after Eknath Shinde rebelled against Thackeray’s leadership, claiming the support of 40 of the Shiv Sena’s 55 MLAs and 12 of its 18 members in the Lok Sabha. Following Thackeray’s resignation as chief minister of the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition, Shinde became Maharashtra Chief Minister with the support of the BJP.
Since then, the two factions have been fighting over party name, symbol, party offices and which among the two is the real Shiv Sena.
