Aaditya aide Rahul Kanal joins Shinde’s party

Kanal, who began his career in the Youth Congress, later joined the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s youth wing but left it to join the Shinde Sena, claiming that he was upset with the way his men were sidelined by Aaditya

MUMBAI: Rahul Kanal, a close aide of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena at the CM’s official bungalow, Varsha, on Saturday evening. Kanal joined the Shiv Sena at the same time that Aaditya Thackeray was giving a speech at his party’s rally against BMC corruption in the last one year.

Aaditya aide Rahul Kanal joins Shinde’s party

Kanal, who began his career in the Youth Congress, later joined the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s youth wing but left it to join the Shinde Sena, claiming that he was upset with the way his men were sidelined by Aaditya. Just a fortnight ago, he had tweeted a birthday message for Aaditya: “It does not matter how many are against you. Those who are with you are wonderful.” Incidentally, Kanal was raided by the income-tax authorities in March.

Kanal lavished high praise on Shinde at the function, saying he had grown up in politics watching him. “During the pandemic, I worked in Bandra West,” he said. “Shinde allowed the MSRDC headquarters premises to be used to feed street dogs when there was no one to feed them during the lockdown.”

Kanal said that he was being slammed by the Shiv Sena (UBT) for leaving the party but he had given the party much more than what it had given him. “People say that I must have joined Shinde because of the Sushant Singh Rajput and Disha Salian cases,” he said. “Many have made allegations against me in those cases, but I request a detailed investigation to be done, and if my name comes up anywhere, I will touch my head to Shinde’s feet.”

Shinde welcomed Kanal into the party with an equal amount of gush. “There is scope for a lot of work for Kanal in the party,” he said. “I love people who work. I have seen during the Covid pandemic how Kanal fed people with his money. He moved around while those who did not have guts sat at home.” The barb was aimed at then CM Uddhav Thackeray, who did not step out much during the pandemic.

Apart from Kanal, Purvesh Pratap Sarnaik, Ameya Ghole, Yogesh Kadam, Samadhan Sarvankar are the key Yuva Sena leaders who have left Aaditya Thackeray.