Mumbai: In a jolt to Uddhav, his nephew Nihar Thackeray extends support to Shinde

Amid the ongoing tussle, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray received a fresh setback after his nephew Nihar Thackeray on Friday extended his support to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who claims to represent the real Shiv Sena.

Nihar’s move is being seen as a symbolic one, as it has emanated from within the Thackeray family.

Nihar is the son of late Bindumadhav Thackeray, the eldest son of Sena founder Bal Thackeray. A filmmaker, Bindumadhav died in an unfortunate accident in 1996.

A statement from Shinde’s office released after the meeting said Nihar will start his political journey under the CM’s leadership. Nihar, who has stayed away from politics all this while, is married to the daughter of BJP and former state minister Harshvardhan Patil.

Even though Nihar was never active in the Shiv Sena or state politics, Shinde has succeeded in weaning him away and thereby trespassed into the Thackeray family. Nihar may be given the responsibility of further strengthening the party’s youth wing.

Nihar’s decision came two days after Uddhav Thackeray in an interview to the party mouthpiece Samana claimed that the rebel legislators were like rotten leaves, adding that the plan to topple the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was hatched at a time when he was operated upon and recovering after two major surgeries.

Further, Nihar’s move to formally enter into active politics came days after the Bal Thackeray’s daughter-in-law Smita Thackeray met Shinde and wished him success. She was the first from the Thackeray clan to meet Shinde, although she declined to comment on the ongoing political developments.

She, however, said, ‘‘Eknath Shinde is an old Shivsainik who has become the chief minister; I came here to congratulate him.’’