Eknath Shinde Elected As Chief Leader Of Shiv Sena, Announces New National Executive Committee

MLA Deepak Kesarkar has been appointed as spokesperson whereas Ramdas Kadam and Anandrao Adsul were appointed as Shiv Sena leaders.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Source: File photo/Getty)

New Delhi: Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde faction on Monday announced a new national executive committee of the party and has decided to dissolve the old committee. Chief Minister Shinde has been unanimously elected as the chief leader of Shiv Sena. MLA Deepak Kesarkar has been appointed as spokesperson whereas Ramdas Kadam and Anandrao Adsul were appointed as Shiv Sena leaders.

Ramdas Kadam and Anandrao Adsul have been expelled from the Shiv Sena for anti-party activities some time ago. This action was taken on the order of Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Immediately after that, the Shinde group has given the post of leader to both of them.

Apart from this, Yashwant Jadhav, Gulabrao Patil, Uday Samant, Sharad Ponkshe, Tanaji Sawant, Vijay Nahata, Shivajirao Adhalarao Patil have been appointed as deputy leaders.

Earlier today, in a major setback to Shiv Sena chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, senior leader Ramdas Kadam resigned from the party on Monday. Ramdas Kadam has sent his resignation from the membership of the party to Matoshree, the residence of Uddhav Thackeray. Earlier, his son and MLA Yogesh Kadam had joined the Eknath Shinde camp in Guwahati. Kadam had also served as the environment minister in the BJP-Sena government in the state (2014-19).

He was not given any ministerial post when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power (from November 2019 to June 2022) and was evidently sulking.

He was even denied one more term as a member of the state Legislative Council last year.

Last month, Sena MLA Eknath Shinde opposed the party alongside 39 legislators.

This news has come at a time when Uddhav Thackeray has appointed new office bearers on a large scale across Maharashtra. He has appointed more than 100 office bearers in many other districts including Mumbai, Palghar, Yavatmal, and Amravati. During this, a large number of new faces have been brought into the posts of Deputy Department Head and Branch Head. The party has announced new appointments in its mouthpiece Saamana.

At the same time, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition filed by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and 14 other Shiv Sena MLAs (members of the Legislative Assembly). In this petition, the disqualification proceedings initiated by the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly have been challenged.