In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena says Paranjpe induction aimed to block Opposition move, calls it ‘ghar wapsi’

Thane: Maharashtra minister Uday Samant on Friday said former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Anand Paranjpe was inducted into the Shiv Sena to stop him from the Opposition and added that the Sunetra Pawar-led party was kept in the loop about his induction to avoid any misunderstanding.

Paranjpe had resigned from the NCP headed by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar on Thursday and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Sena the same evening in Mumbai.

As both the NCP and Sena are part of the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra along with the BJP, the Sena clarified that they inducted Paranjape after alerting his former party bosses only to ensure he did not join the Maha Vikas Aghadi. “We tried reaching out to Sunetra and Parth Pawar, but they were unavailable and so updated Jay before Paranjpe’s induction to avoid any misunderstanding within the alliance,” Samant said.

Interestingly, a prominent NCP chief and close associate of Paranjape from Thane told the media that he was unaware of the development until Thursday evening as he and Paranjape were scheduled to meet at their party office in the evening till he became unreachable.

Anand Paranjpe, son of veteran Shiv Sena MP Prakash Paranjpe, won the Thane Lok Sabha bypoll in 2008 following his father’s death. He was elected from Kalyan in the 2009 general election as a Sena candidate but left the party in 2012 to join the NCP. He lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kalyan to Sena’s Dr Shrikant Shinde. Paranjpe later aligned with Ajit Pawar after the latter joined the Mahayuti government in 2023.

It is learnt that Paranjape was upset with not being politically rehabilitated within the NCP which apparently led to his decision which was timely grasped by Sena MP Dr Shrikant Shinde who is known to have encouraged him to return to the Sena fold. Paranjape however dismissed these theories and said he quit his former party on a good note.

“I returned to the Sena after nearly 14 years and it feels like a ghar waapsi. I used to accompany my father as a youth to Anand ashram to meet late Anand Dighe and have many fond memories of this place. I have not expressed any desire for a specific post or ticket. I only want to work for the growth of the organisation,” said the former MP after visiting the party HQ at Thane on Friday.

Meanwhile, observers said with the induction of Paranjape, Shinde has managed to fortify his party in the region that has been facing challenges from the local BJP leaders who are bent on downsizing the Sena in the district.