12 February,2025 07:12 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Rajan Salvi. File Pic/X
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) party's former MLA Rajan Salvi on Wednesday resigned as the deputy leader of the party citing 'prevailing circumstances' in his Rajapur constituency in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra, reported the PTI.
There is wide speculation that Rajan Salvi would join Maharashtra deputy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Salvi's decision to quit the party will be a blow to the Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena (UBT) in the state's coastal Konkan region, which was once its stronghold.
Salvi had lost to Shiv Sena's Kiran Samant in the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls. Since then, he had openly aired his discontent against local Sena (UBT) leaders, accusing them of being responsible for his defeat, according to the PTI.
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In a letter to Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday, Rajan Salvi said that he takes moral responsibility for his defeat in the assembly polls. Sena (UBT) had a poor showing in the elections winning only 20 of the 288 assembly seats in the state, while the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena bagged 57 seats.
"In the prevailing circumstances and amid the internal politics within the organisation, I won't be able to do justice to my post. Accepting moral responsibility for my defeat, I am resigning as the deputy leader of the party," he wrote in the letter, as per the PTI.
Despite repeated attempts, Salvi was unavailable for comment.
Asked whether Salvi was headed for his party, Eknath Shinde said, "Those who want to join are welcome because, in the last two and a half years, many MPs, MLAs and corporators have joined the Shiv Sena which runs on the ideals of Bal Thackeray," the news agency reported.
Slamming Rajan Salvi, Shiv Sena (UBT) secretary and former MP Vinayak Raut said that he wanted to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after his election defeat but the party refused to accept him. Salvi joining Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena is an attempt to check the influence of Rajapur MLA Kiran Samant and his minister brother Uday Samant, he claimed.
(with PTI inputs)
