In a big setback to the Uddhav Thackeray faction ahead of civic polls, former Kothurd corporator Shyam Deshpande joined BJP today in Mumbai in presence of deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule.
Deshpande is a former Shahar Pramukh (City chief) of Shiv Sena and three times corporator. In 2022, he had expressed displeasure after Uddhav Thackeray criticised RSS. He was later suspended from the party for anti-party activities.
Uddhav Thackery to hold rally in Pune on May 14
His joining comes a few days after it was decided that Sena-UBT Uddhav Thackeray will hold a rally in Pune on May 14 for the upcoming civic polls. The move comes after hectic deliberations among the top brass of the MVA which notched a major success in the recently-held Kasba Peth by-elections in Pune where it jointly trounced the BJP in its 3-decades old bastion.
Along with Deshpande, former MP Anantrao Deshmukh, Adv Nakul Deshmukh, NCP's Nashik's ZP member Amruta Pawar also joined BJP today. While speaking at the event, Devendra Fadnavis said that it is a matter of happiness that leaders and activists who are connected to people are joining the BJP.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
