Mumbai, July 30: In a symbolic blow to Uddhav Thackeray camp, the former Maharashtra Chief Minister's nephew and late Balasaheb Thackeray's grandson Nihar Thackeray, met with rebel Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, extending support to him.
Nihar's father, late Bindumadhav Thackeray was the eldest son of the late Balasaheb Thackeray. A filmmaker, he died in an unfortunate accident in 1996. While Nihar, a lawyer, is not active in politics, his support to the Eknath Shinde camp is viewed as a symbolic gesture as it comes from someone within Thackeray family.
The Shinde camp shared pictures of the meeting which showed Thackeray giving flowers to Eknath Shinde. The Shinde camp said that Nihar could formally enter politics following the meeting. There has been no comment or formal announcement from Nihar regarding his plans to join politics.
The development is the latest one in the ongoing battle between the two sides. Earlier this week, Uddhav Thackeray told Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana that the rebel Shiv Sena leaders are like 'rotten leaves' and alleged that plans to topple the MVA) government were hatched even when he was being operated and was recovering after surgeries.
The two factions, which are also warring over the election symbol of Shiv Sena, claiming that their respective faction is the real party, have also approached the SC seeking disqualification of MPs and MLAs backing the other side.