Bal Thackeray’s grandson Nihar says he is with Shinde camp, ready to campaign for Andheri Assembly byelection

Nihar Thackeray the grandson of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray has said that he supports the Eknath Shinde faction of the party and is ready to campaign for the upcoming Andheri East Assembly byelection as well as the Mumbai civic body pollsHe also did not rule out joining electoral politicsThe BJP supported by the Shindeled Shiv Sena faction has fielded Murji Patel against the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray partys Rutuja Latke in the November 3 byelectionIt will be the first major electoral contest in the state after Shindes rebellion brought down the previous Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this yearNihar the son of Bindumadhav Thackeray Bal Thackerays eldest son is a lawyer by profession He is also part of Chief Minister Shindersquos legal team in the battle in the Supreme Court over which is the real Shiv SenaAlso read Chhagan Bhujbal would have become Maharashtra CM had he not left Shiv Sena Uddhav ThackerayShinde was taking forward the legacy of his late grandfather and hence he supported the chief minister Nihar told PTI in an interviewOn Dussehra when his uncle Uddhav Thackeray and cousin Aaditya addressed a rally at the Shivaji Park in Mumbai Nihar Thackeray was on stage with Shinde who addressed a separate rally at MMRDA ground in the state capitalUddhavs elder brother Jaidev and Jaidevs former wife Smita too shared the stage with Shinde in an apparent attempt to send out a message that barring Uddhav and his son the rest of the family supported ShindeNihar declined to comment on the fissures in the family but said Bal Thackeray was the glue that kept it togetherldquoIf required I will keep myself available for the bypoll and BMC Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation polls I will continue to extend support to Shinde jirdquo he addedBindumadhav Thackeray producer of the 1996 hit Hindi film Agni Sakshi among others died in a road accident in the same yearNihar is married to Ankita Patil the daughter of former Maharashtra minister Harshvardhan Patil who is now with the BJP Asked whether he would participate in electoral politics Nihar said ldquoI have not really given it a serious thoughtI am a lawyer by profession But not taking that decision does not mean I will never do itldquoI am not saying itrsquos a complete no I have just not given it a complete thought yetrdquo he saidHis cousin Aaditya became only the second member of the Thackeray family to contest an election when he won from Worli Assembly constituency in 2019Before that Shalini Thackeray another member of the extended family had contested the 2009 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully on the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena MNS ticketldquoEver since Balasaheb passed away I have not been an active part of the Shiv Sena or politics for whatever reasons It did not happenrdquo Nihar Thackeray saidldquoHad there been an option I would have definitely liked to be a part of it It the party is something which my grandfather started For whatever reasons I was not part of itrdquo he added without elaborating on why he did not find any role in the Sena after Uddhav Thackeray took overAsked about his association with Shinde he said he met the chief minister for the first time in July this yearldquoBalasaheb had clearly said that he will never join hands with the Congress under any circumstances For whatever reasons things happened and Maha Vikas Aghadi government of the Sena Congress and NCP came to power and thenhellipShinde saheb decided to walk awayrdquo Nihar Thackeray saidThe government which had been given the mandate to rule in 2019 is now in power he addedThe Shiv Sena and the BJP had contested the 2019 Assembly elections together but fell out after the resultsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever