Eknath Shinde-Led Shiv Sena Appoints Gajanan Kirtikar As Parliamentary Party Leader, Sacks Raut

Shiv Sena main leader Shinde announced Kirtikar's appointment as leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader Gajanan Kirtikar.

Source : Twitter/@GajananKirtikar

Sanjay Raut has been replaced as the head of the Shiv Sena's parliamentary party by Gajanan Kirtikar, a member of the Lok Sabha, under the leadership of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, news agency PTI reported.

Shiv Sena main leader Shinde announced Kirtikar's appointment as leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's conviction in criminal defamation case indicates central agencies, courts heading in direction that invites dictatorship, suppresses voice of opposition

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 23, 2023

In their parliamentary party office on the third floor of the Parliament building, Sena leaders congratulated Kirtikar on Thursday.

In response to the news, Raut in Bombay claimed that he would have kept his job if he had taken the money and "surrendered."

“Even we were asked (to switch loyalties). I said I spit on your offer. I will not betray Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena. We are self-respecting people and my party has given me a lot,” Raut was quoted by PTI in its report.

Four of the 18 Shiv Sena legislators in the Lok Sabha are Uddhav Thackeray loyalists, who lost the party's leadership to Shinde.

By forging a government in Maharashtra in coalition with the party's bitter enemies Congress and NCP, Thackeray, according to Shinde, compromised on the party's principles, causing the Shiv Sena to split last year.

The Shinde-led group was given the name and election symbol by the Election Commission, which recognised it as the legitimate Shiv Sena last month.

Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai, and Priyanka Chaturvedi are three Shiv Sena representatives in the Rajya Sabha who are loyal to Thackeray.

(With Inputs From PTI)