Uddhav Thackeray has suffered yet another setback as his close aide and MP, Sanjay Raut, was ousted as the parliamentary leader of the party, after the loss of the Bow and Arrow symbol and party name. Gajanand Kirtikar, who aligned with Eknath Shinde's faction of the Shiv Sena in November last year, has been appointed as the new parliamentary leader in place of Raut.
๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ธ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ต ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐
Kirtikar, taking to Twitter after his appointment, thanked CM Shinde and his party colleagues.
"By appointing me as the leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party, Chief Minister @mieknathshinde has shown confidence in me. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to him as well as to all the Shiv Sena colleagues in parliament who have supported me," Kirtikar said.
๐๐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐น๐น ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น ๐๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
In February, the Election Commission of India (ECI) granted the official symbol Bow and Arrow and the name of Shiv Sena to the faction led by Eknath Shinde. A feud had erupted between the factions of Thackeray and Shinde over the claim to the party name and election symbol. Shinde, who is now the Chief Minister, had rebelled against Thackeray but had not disassociated himself or his associates from the party, instead forming an alliance with the BJP.
Earlier, Eknath Shinde had written a letter to Pralhad Joshi, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, naming Gajanand Kirtikar as the new leader of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party. Kirtikar, once a devoted follower of Uddhav Thackeray, took over from Sanjay Raut last week.
