17 June,2025 04:12 PM IST | Mumbai | Sanjeev Shivadekar
Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray had earlier hinted they might come together for the welfare Maharashtra. File Pic
Many leaders from Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on Tuesday reached Maharashtra's Nashik district after quitting the parties and are set to join the BJP amid Uddhav Thackeray-Raj Thackeray reunion buzz.
On Tuesday, senior former Shiv Sena (undivided) MLA Babanrao Gholap of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and Sudhakar Badgujar, former deputy leader of the Sena (UBT) in Nashik, joined the BJP. Besides UBT camp leaders, it is said that one of the close associates of MNS chief Raj Thackeray - former mayor of Nashik Ashok Murtadak - has also joined the ruling BJP regime.
In the first week of June, Badgujar had met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Irked, Uddhav Thackeray - two days after the Fadnavis-Badgujar meeting - accused the deputy leader of indulging in "anti-party activities" and expelled him from the Sena (UBT).
However, local BJP MLA Seema Hire has opposed the induction of Badgujar on the grounds that he has allegedly been accused in a major criminal case.
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Meanwhile, Gholap cited ill-treatment meted out to him in the UBT camp as the reason for ending his long association with Sena. On the other hand, former MNS mayor Ashok Murtadak claimed that he has decided to end his association with Thackeray and move on to join the BJP for the development of Nashik, especially ahead of the Nashik Kumbh scheduled in 2027.
Shinde welcomes Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders into his party
Not to be left behind, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena also saw the induction of a few Sena (UBT) camp leaders from Nashik into his party fold. A group of former Nashik corporators from the Shiv Sena (UBT) camp on Tuesday morning joined the Eknath Shinde's camp.
