LATUR: Former Latur district chief of the Shiv Sena Balwant Jadhav on Sunday said he was joining the faction of the party led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Jadhav said his respect for Uddhav Thackeray had not diminished at all but he was joining the Shinde faction due to the inept leadership of former Aurangabad Lok Sabha MP Chandrakant Khaire.
"I am unhappy with the leadership of Khaire. He tried to diminish the Sena in Latur. My love and respect for Uddhav Thackeray will always remain. Eknath Shinde has taken steps to boost the strength of the Sena," Jadhav, considered a close aide of former state minister Diwakar Raote, said.
The Shiv Sena should not have allied with parties like the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress as this is a rejection of the thoughts and ideals of (party founder) Balasaheb Thackeray, he claimed.
Jadhav was chief of the Latur district unit of the Sena between 2000 and 2003 and district coordinator from 2016 to 2018.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday sacked the party's Nanded district chief Umesh Munde for indulging in "anti-party activities", a senior party leader said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be on a day's tour of Nanded on Monday.
A statement from Shiv Sena secretary Vinayak Raut said Thackeray took the decision to remove Munde as the party's Nanded district chief in view of his "anti-party activities".
In June this year, Shinde and 39 other Sena legislators had rebelled against the party leadership, leading to the fall of the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which comprised the Sena, NCP and Congress.
Shinde was on June 30 sworn in as the chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis took oath as the deputy CM.
Uddhav Thackeray's son and Sena MLA Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday claimed the Eknath Shinde-led government was "illegal" and would not last long.
The former state minister also said he does not feel anger towards the rebel MLAs who toppled the government led by his father but feels sad.