The spree of appointments and inductions to the various posts in the local Shiv Sena unit of Mira-Bhayandar by a section of leaders hit a major controversy after legislator Pratap Sarnaik in his capacity as the Sampark Pramukh (in charge of the constituency) of the party declared all the appointments as null and void.
The much hyped appointments by the party’s city chief followed by an immediate stamp of invalidation by the legislator has exposed the simmering discontent among cadres and widening rifts between two sections of the local party unit. In a strongly worded letter addressed to city Sena chief- Prabhakar Mhatre, Sarnaik has questioned the authenticity of the appointments.
According to Sarnaik, as per the traditional practice adopted by the party, senior functionaries including guardian minister, parliamentarian and Sampark Pramukh table the list of appointments before the party chief-Uddhav Thackeray. Only after the party chief’s approval, the list is finalized and published in Saamna. “The appointments made directly by the city chief are nothing but a gross violation of party guidelines. A detailed report will soon be sent to the party chief,” stated Sarnaik while scrapping the newly made appointments and making it clear that office-bearers whose names had appeared in Saamna in March-2019 will remain in force.
Denying any rift within the party, city chief Prabhakar Mhatre said, “We are loyal Shiv Sainiks and will abide by whatever orders are given by our party leadership.” Notably, elections to the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) are scheduled to be held next year and any type of rift or discontent within party ranks may damage the electoral fortunes of the party which has managed to strengthen its base in the twin-city in the past five years. While the Sena has a significant presence in the civic body, both the legislators- Pratap Sarnaik and Geeta Jain (an independent who extended her support to the Sena) are now from Shiv Sena.
