Mumbai: Former Lok Sabha MP from Thane district, Anand Paranjpe, on Thursday announced his 'homecoming' to the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, shortly after resigning from the ruling Nationalist Congress Party headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar.
Paranjpe resigned as a primary member of the NCP and also stepped down from his responsibilities as the party’s general secretary, spokesperson and coordinator for Thane and Palghar districts. In his resignation letter addressed to Sunetra Pawar, he said he was ending his 14-year association with the party to 'start a new journey'.
“With a heavy heart, I end my association with NCP to start a new journey,” Paranjpe wrote, while thanking party leaders, office-bearers and workers for their support and association over the years.
Paranjpe Joins Shinde Sena After Quitting NCP
Hours later, Paranjpe formally joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of leaders from the Eknath Shinde camp and described the move as a return to his political roots. His father, late Prakash Paranjpe, was a senior Shiv Sena leader from the region.
“Today, placing my faith in the leadership of Shiv Sena’s principal leader and Deputy CM Eknath Shinde, along with the party’s youth leadership MP Dr. Shrikant Shinde, I have made my homecoming back to the Shiv Sena,” Paranjpe said after joining the party. "Whatever organisational responsibility Eknath Shinde entrusts to me, I will fulfil it in the spirit of being a dedicated Shiv Sena worker,” he added.
Paranjpe had quit the undivided Shiv Sena in 2012 before joining the NCP. After the split within the NCP in July 2023 following Ajit Pawar joining the Mahayuti government, Paranjpe sided with the Ajit Pawar faction.
A two-time Lok Sabha member, Paranjpe won the Kalyan parliamentary seat in 2009 on a Shiv Sena ticket. However, he lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kalyan to Shrikant Shinde, son of Eknath Shinde, when the Shiv Sena was still united.
