MUMBAI: In a setback to the Shiv Sena, its Lok Sabha MP from Kalyan, Anand Paranjpe made a dramatic entry at the Union Agriculture Minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar’s press conference and lashed out at the Sena leadership in Pawar’s presence.
Anand, son of four-time Shiv Sena MP Prakash Paranjpe, had entered the Lok Sabha in a bypoll in 2008 necessitated after his father’s death and was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009. Pawar was talking to the reporters on Friday. Claiming that the Sena had degenerated from the vision of party chief Bal Thackeray, Anand claimed that the party was now amenable to any compromise to gain power. Anand, however, denied he had immediate plans to join the NCP and added that he had approached the party for the development of Thane.
Thane is a saffron stronghold and the Sena managed to draw blood in the 1968 civic polls, just two years after it was established, and won 17 out of 40 seats to the civic body. Later, Thane city and the surrounding areas were nurtured by Sena leaders like ‘Dharmaveer’ Anand Dighe, who enjoyed almost talismanic appeal among his followers.