Rajan Salvi, who served as the deputy chief of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction, announced his decision to join the rival Eknath Shinde group on Thursday. Rajan Salvi, once considered a confidant of Uddhav Thackeray, reportedly spoke to the media before he announced his decision to join the Sena faction in Maharashtra's ruling alliance.
#WATCH | Mumbai | Maharashtra Minister Shambhuraj Desai says, "Rajan Salvi said that he wants to stay with Shiv Sena's side, which has the symbol of bow and arrow, and that side is being led by Eknath Shinde. Henceforth, he will be working in Shiv Sena from now on." pic.twitter.com/gsygwEBRdC
— ANI (@ANI) February 13, 2025
On Wednesday, Salvi resigned the party deputy leader post citing circumstances in his Rajapur constituency in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district.
For the unversed, Salvi was defeated by the Shinde camp's Kiran Samant in the 2024 assembly polls. Salvi got only 60,579 votes -- 39.18% of the total polled votes -- while Samant managed 80,256, which was over half of the total polled votes in the seat. According to Salvi, the lack of support from local UBT leadership was the reason for his shock defeat.
Rajan Salvi had said that he had told Uddhav Thackeray about the people he believed were responsible for Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) defeat in Ratnagiri. He decided to switch sides to ensure the welfare of the people of his constituency, Salvi claimed.
"I informed Uddhav Thackeray about those who are responsible for the defeat in the 2024 elections. Today, I have decided to join Sena (Eknath Shinde). I gave all the information and evidence to the Shiv Sena chief about the people who are responsible for my defeat, the people who have worked against me. Then I thought we should stop now. But the people of the constituency urged me to stand up once again for the all-round development of the constituency and the district. Accordingly, I have taken this decision," Salvi was quoted as saying by Loksatta.
Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the ruling alliance will grant Salvi a seat in the Legislative Council. The three-time MLA said the decision was with Shinde exclusively, but added that he has been a Shiv Sainik for a long time and he expects the Deputy Chief Minister to love him like an elder brother.
