Neelam Gorhe appointed ‘neta’ in Shiv Sena

Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the state legislative council in Mumbai, has become the first woman to be appointed as a senior leader in the Shiv Sena party.

Mumbai: Two days after her induction into the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde, state legislative council deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe was appointed as ‘neta’.

HT Image

This designation is traditionally given to senior-most leaders within the party and no woman was elevated to the position in the 57-year-old party founded by Bal Thackeray.

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Gorhe said, “I am deputy chairperson and will have to work in the framework of my post. I will work for issues related to women and for the country’s development.”

Gorhe was among key women leaders after Sheetal Mhatre and Manisha Kayande to jump ship and join Shinde-led Sena. Sources in the Shiv Sena (UBT) said that Gorhe was quite upset with the prominence given to Sushma Andhare, who had joined the Uddhav faction as deputy leader recently.

A key leader in the Shiv Sena said, “Thackerays had Sabir Shaikh as one of the leaders from minority community and he was also a minister in the Shiv Sena-BJP government from 1995 to 1999, but no woman was given representation. Most women representatives were proxy politicians for their husbands, who were corporators or MLAs. The Shiv Sena netas used to share stage with Bal Thackeray and later with Uddhav.”

Gorhe was appointed as deputy chairperson of the legislative council in 2019 and after the retirement of Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar she is officiating as chairperson.

Gorhe has a background as a socialist and women’s rights activist. She joined the Republican Party of India (RPI) in the early 1990s before switching to the Shiv Sena in 1998. She had also contested the Lok Sabha polls from Northeast Mumbai. She was nominated four times to the council.