CM Shinde moves to now wrest control of Shiv Sena’s organisation

After engineering a vertical split in the Shiv Sena and walking away with over twothirds of the party’s 55 legislators, Eknath Shinde is now moving to wrest control of the party’s organisation. He has started making his own organisational appointments, overriding those made by Uddhav Thackeray.

On Friday, Shinde reinstated former Thane mayor Naresh Mhaske as the Thane district chief of the Shiv Sena. Mhaske had resigned as the Thane district chief after Shinde launched his rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray last month. Mhaske and 65 other corporators in the outgoing Thane Municipal Corporation later joined Shinde’s camp.

Shinde reinstated Mhaske to

Eknath Shinde

the party position and guided him on expanding the organisation in Thane and Palghar. Certain other office bearers who, he claimed, had been removed from their positions in an arbitrary manner were also reinstated.

“You can remove me, but you can never remove the Shiv Sainik from my personality and character..,” Mhaske said.

The bad blood between the two camps now threatens to spill onto Mumbai’s streets. Two workers, loyal to Thackeray, were attacked by three men on a motorbike in Byculla on Friday. The Byculla constituency is represented by Shiv Sena MLA Yamini Jadhav who has since jumped ship and gone over to the Shinde faction. Uddhav Thackeray went to the local shakha to express solidarity and seek action against the culprits. Police said they have registered a non-cognisable case.

In a warning to Thackeray to desist from violence, Shinde said on Friday: “We don’t want to do anything but if we are troubled, we have kalakars (artists) who will show their artistry and you won’t even come to know.” Manisha Kayande, MLC and Sena spokesperson said, Shinde had made these appointments “...without bothering about the legalities.” “...So far, this (Shinde camp) is just a splinter group without a distinct political identity.”