Mumbai: Ahead of the impending Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) suffered yet another setback in Mumbai Tuesday, as the party’s Vibhag Pramukh from Dahisar, Tejasvee Ghosalkar, resigned from her post.
Ghosalkar, an ex-corporator and the widow of late Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar, cited differences with fellow party leaders and “personal reasons” in her resignation.
Tejasvee became a corporator for the first time in 2017. She is the daughter-in-law of former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Vinod Ghosalkar.
After the death of her husband Abhishek—who was shot dead during a Facebook livestream in February 2022 by businessman Mauris Noronha, who allegedly held a grudge against him—relations between Tejasvee and her father-in-law Vinod reportedly soured.
Tejasvee had expressed interest in contesting the 2024 assembly elections from the Dahisar constituency and had communicated this to the party leadership. However, Vinod Ghosalkar also wanted to contest from the same seat. The party leadership had issued the AB form in the name of the ‘Ghosalkar’ family and asked the two to decide among themselves who would run.
Eventually, Vinod contested the election. Despite this, Tejasvee campaigned and held rallies in his support.
Now, citing “personal reasons”, she has resigned from her post.
In her resignation letter, addressed to Udesh Patekar, the current Vibhag Pramukh, she thanked the party chief for giving her the opportunity to work “honestly”. ThePrint has seen a copy of the resignation letter.
According to Shiv Sena (UBT), the party leadership is expected to try and persuade her to withdraw her resignation.
Meanwhile, Tejasvee has reportedly been approached by both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Eknath Shinde-led faction of Shiv Sena. However, she has not yet taken a decision on whether to join either of them.
ThePrint reached Vinod Ghosalkar for a comment over the phone. This report will be updated if and when he responds.
Since the Shiv Sena split in 2022, several families have also reported internal feuds. From the Kirtikars—with father Gajanan siding with the Shinde faction and son Amol with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray)—to the Desais, where father Subhash is with the Sena UBT and son Bhushan with the Shinde Sena, familial divisions have become increasingly evident.
Although Tejasvee has not yet declared her allegiance, the Shinde Sena is attempting to capitalise on the situation, ThePrint has learnt.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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