Amid the Shiv Sena legacy war between Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and former CM Uddhab Thackeray, the latter on Friday removed the former from the post of Shiv Sena leader in the party organisation.
In a letter issued by the party, Uddhav Thackeray said Shinde has been indulging in "anti-party activities" and has voluntarily given up his membership. "In exercise of the powers vested in me as the Shivsena Paksha Pramukha, I remove you from the post of Shivsena Leader in the party organisation," the letter signed by Uddhav Thackeray said.
Eknath Shinde, who led a revolt against Thackeray, had recently decided to name his faction “Shiv Sena Balasaheb”.
Earlier, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut said a new government in Maharashtra under Shinde has been formed by the BJP with a group of MLAs that split the party, and asserted that the Sena is where the Thackerays are.
Taking a dig at Deputy Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Raut said had the BJP stuck to its word in 2019, it could have had the CM's post for two-and-a-half years and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) experiment involving his party, the NCP and the Congress would not have taken place.
What has the BJP achieved, Raut asked after Fadnavis took charge as the deputy chief minister. "We will try to expand our party under Uddhav Thackeray. A group split from the Sena has formed the government with the BJP," Raut told reporters.
He was responding to a question whether the new government under Eknath Shinde is a Shiv Sena-BJP government. Raut stressed that Shinde's move of splitting the Sena will not weaken the party.