Highlights
- Uddhav Thackeray on Monday sacked several Shiv Sena leaders.
- The leaders included big names like Ramdas Kadam and former MP Anandrao Adsul.
- Kadam had claimed Thackeray always remained busy when he was the chief minister.
Uddhav Thackeray sacks Sena leaders: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday sacked several Shiv Sena leaders, over "anti-party" activities. The leaders included big names like Ramdas Kadam and former MP Anandrao Adsul.
Both leaders had earlier resigned from the Shiv Sena and had sent a letter to Thackeray. Kadam had claimed Thackeray always remained busy when he was the chief minister, and always "insulted" him.
In his letter, Kadam expressed his anguish over the 2019 post-poll alliance between Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Congress, which he said was a betrayal of the thoughts of Sena founder the late Bal Thackeray.
The dismissal of Kadam and Adsul, comes ahead of a crucial Supreme Court hearing on the huge political storm in Maharashtra following the rebellion by Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. On Wednesday, the top court will hear a bunch of petitions from both sides regarding the disqualification of MLAs and the legality of whips and appointments within the party.
Kadam, who hails from the Ratnagiri district, became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for the first time in 1990 and went on to win three more terms.
He was appointed as Shiv Sena leader in 2005. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2005 to 2009. He became an MLC for the first time in 2010 and again in 2015.
Kadam had served as the state environment minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led Bharatiya Janata Party-Sena government in 2014-19. Kadam has been sulking as he was not given any ministerial post when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) remained in power (from November 2019 to June 2022).
Last month, Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party along with 39 legislators. Ramdas Kadam's son Yogesh Kadam, the MLA from Dapoli in Ratnagiri district, had also joined the Shinde camp.
Shinde was on June 30 sworn in as the chief minister and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis had taken the oath as his deputy.
"My MLA son Yogesh and I were consistently insulted and you were always busy after becoming the chief minister. I was appointed as Shiv Sena leader by the late Balasaheb Thackeray. However, I realised that there is no meaning to the post after his death," Ramdas Kadam stated in his letter.
(With PTI Inputs)
