MumbaiIn an attempt to shore up its ranks, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) is working on inducting former partymen-turned-rebels and leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other parties into its fold.
This has seen the Shiv Sena rope in Balasaheb Dangat, former MLA from Junnar in Pune district. Former minister Sanjay Deshmukh will also join the Shiv Sena (UBT) soon, while ex-MLA Vijayraj Shinde is also said to be waiting in the wings.
Dangat, a two-term MLA from Junnar, may help the Shiv Sena recover lost ground after influential leaders from Pune district like former MP Shivajirao Adhalrao Patil, former minister of state Vijay Shivtare and ex-MLA Sharad Sonawane left to join Shinde.
Deshmukh, a former Shiv Sainik, was elected to the state legislative assembly twice (1999 and 2004) from Digras in Yavatmal district as an independent. A traditional opponent of Sanjay Rathod, the incumbent minister for Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Deshmukh had secured over 73,000 votes against him despite contesting as an independent.
Deshmukh confirmed that he would join the Shiv Sena. “I have spoken to Saheb (Uddhav Thackeray),” he said. “There is massive sympathy for Uddhav saheb… the leaders who have left the party in the past are looking to return to it,” Deshmukh added.
Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP from South Mumbai and party spokesperson, confirmed that Deshmukh would join the party and said they were trying to rope in or re-induct influential leaders in constituencies represented by the rebels. “There are several leaders who are in touch with us. But, we are exercising discretion,” he claimed.
Incidentally, the Shiv Sena (UBT) has also inducted Mahant Sunil Maharaj, the priest of the influential Pohradevi shrine in Washim, revered by the Banjara community. Rathod too belongs to the community. The forest minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, Rathod had quit in February 2021 after the death by suicide of a 22-year-old TikTok star.
The Shiv Sena has suffered a massive blow in Vidarbha after the exit of leaders like Rathod and Lok Sabha MPs Bhavana Gawali Patil (Yavatmal-Washim), Prataprao Jadhav (Buldhana) and Krupal Tumane (Ramtek).
There are speculations that Vijayraj Shinde, a three-term MLA from the Buldhana constituency, who is now with the BJP, may be looking to return to the Sena (UBT). Shinde had left the party after being denied a re-nomination in 2019 and had contested as a nominee of the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Despite repeated attempts, Shinde could not be contacted for comment.
A senior Shiv Sena leader confirmed that they were looking at inducting leaders from other parties to make up for the vacuum in local leadership in the constituencies represented by the rebels. A former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLA from the Konkan was also likely to join the party, he said.
“We are focusing on getting back those leaders from the party who have left to join other political formations. One advantage of the rebellion was that some leaders like (former union minister and ex-MP from Raigad) Anant Geete and (former MLA) Suryakant Dalvi, who had taken a backseat, have become active again,” the Sena leader explained.