Big blow to Raj Thackeray, 150 Kalyan MNS men join Uddhav faction

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray suffered a huge political setback in Maharashtra. According to reports, 150 party workers led by Rupesh Bhoir, reached Matoshree in two buses and joined Shiv Sena-led by Uddhav Thackeray in the latter’s presence in Mumbai.

Rupesh Bhoir, is known for raising various social issues in the city. Rupesh’s late father Chandrakant Bhoir was staunch Shiv Sainik and he was the first standing chairman of Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.However, after Chandrakant Bhoir’s death, the party did not give any post to Rupesh. He left Shiv Sena and joined MNS. Thackeray was ousted from his chief ministerial position last year after a faction of rebel leaders led by Eknath Shinde from erstwhile Shiv Sena joined hands with the BJP and made a coalition government in the state, toppling the earlier Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. As the rift between both sides of Shiv Sena widened, the Thackeray-led faction moved the Supreme Court earlier this year. Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) recognised the Shinde-faction as the real Shiv Sena and gave them the poll symbol of ‘bow and arrow’ after it attempted to allocate new names and symbols to both groups.