Sanjay Raut Removed from Post of Parliamentary Leader of Shiv Sena

In yet another major setback to the Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena faction, MP Sanjay Raut was removed from the post of parliamentary leader.

MP Gajanan Kirtikar has replaced him and appointed as the Chief Leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party. It is pertinent to note that Kirtikar joined Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena in November last year.

Eknath Shinde had earlier issued a letter to the Parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, appointing Gajanand Krtikar as the chief of the Shiv Sena parliamentary party.

A long-time Uddhav Thackeray loyalist who was appointed as the leader last week now replaces Sanjay Raut. With this development, the Uddhav faction (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) has only six MPs representing the party in the lower house. 

Gajanan Kirtikar's support to Shinde is being considered as a big blow to Uddhav Thackeray ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, which are likely to take place this year.

Currently, Shiv Sena's name and the party symbol ‘Bow and Arrow’ are with Eknath Shinde. Therefore, Kirtikar can remove the whip in Parliament from Shinde's Shiv Sena. That is, if Sanjay Raut does not follow the Kirtikar's whip, disqualification may also take place.

Election Commission of India (ECI) in February gave the Shiv Sena name and the official symbol Bow and Arrow to Eknath Shinde faction. Both Thackeray and Shinde factions had entered a feud over the claim of the party name and poll symbol since the now Chief Minister Shinde had revolted against Thackeray. He parted ways with him however without disassociating himself and his associates from the party and forming an alliance with the BJP.