Uddhav Thackeray Sacks Eknath Shinde As Shiv Sena Leader

Earlier in the day, Uddhav slammed the new Eknath Shinde government's move to relocate a Mumbai Metro car shed to the green belt of Aarey Colony.

Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde

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New Delhi: Amid the battle over claims to the Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackeray on Friday ‘removed’ newly appointed Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the post of Sena leader in the party organisation. According to reports, the party issued a letter where Uddhav said that Shinde has been indulging in "anti-party activities" and has voluntarily given up his membership of Shiv Sena.

“You have been indulging in anti-party activities and have also voluntarily given up your membership of Shiv Sena. Therefore, in exercise of the powers vested in me as the Shivsena Paksha Pramukha, I remove you from the post of Shivsena Leader in the party organisation,” the letter signed by Uddhav read.

Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Uddhav slammed the new Eknath Shinde government's move to relocate a Mumbai Metro car shed to the green belt of Aarey Colony, reversing a major decision of the previous regime.

Addressing a press conference, Uddhav made an appeal to the Shinde-led government not to go ahead with the Metro-3 car shed project at Aarey Colony, a green belt in suburban Goregaon that was declared a reserved forest by the previous regime.

"I am very upset. If you are angry with me, then vent out your anger, but don't stab Mumbai in the heart. I am very upset that the Aarey decision has been overturned. This is not a personal property," PTI quoted Uddhav as saying.

This comes after CM Shinde and Deputy Cm Devdenra Fadnavis, in their first cabinet meeting, directed the state administration to submit a proposal to build the Metro 3 car shed in Aarey Colony, instead of Kanjurmarg.