Mumbai: Another jolt to Uddhav, loyalist's son joins Shinde group

Mumbai: Uddhav Thackeray received another jolt on Monday as his close aide Subhash Desai's son Bhushan Desai joined the Shinde faction. The new entrant into the Chief Minister's party said that he made this decision as he was impressed by the government's work. Not to mention, Bhushan was in the BJP's crosshairs a few months back for alleged corruption activities when his father was the Industries Minister in the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government. 

“Balasaheb Thackeray is my idol. I have seen the work of Eknath Shinde. He is doing hard work as Balasaheb would have expected from a Shiv Sainik. That's why I have decided to join him,” said Bhushan. Saying that his father is well-aware about his decision, he added, “He (Subhash Desai) is a different person. He has his own opinions and I have mine.”

Welcoming Bhushan, CM Shinde said, “We have been working on the lines of Balasaheb Thackeray. We are taking his ideology of working for the people forward.” He also taunted Uddhav, saying that the latter failed to work for Mumbai despite being in power for several years. 

Closely associated with Bal Thackeray, Subhash Desai maintained the same equation with Uddhav Thackeray. BJP MLC Prasad Lad had levelled serious allegations against Bhushan Desai that he used to extort money from industry owners.