Presence of Uddhav’s nephew in Shinde’s meeting raises eyebrows

The one person who stood out from the rest of the attendees in Thursday’s meeting chaired by chief minister Eknath Shinde was Nihar Thackeray, nephew of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray

The one person who stood out from the rest of the attendees in Thursday’s meeting chaired by chief minister Eknath Shinde was Nihar Thackeray, nephew of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Nihar Thackeray (second from left), nephew of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, at the meeting chaired by chief minister Eknath Shinde HT Photo

Shinde took a review of the public health system in Mumbai with ministers, legislators, and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority. Later, in the photographs released by the chief minister’s office, Nihar can be seen in the meeting.

However, Shinde camp’s spokesperson Kiran Pawaskar claimed otherwise. “Nihar Thackeray was not there for that official meeting… new hospitals are being developed in Mumbai and an agency made a presentation about them. He was there for the presentation as he is associated with that agency.”

Pawaskar, a former legislator, further said that Nihar, who is a lawyer, was also assisting Shinde in his faction’s legal battle in the Supreme Court against Sena.

Despite repeated attempts, Nihar could not be reached for his comments.

Nihar is the grandson of late Sena chief Bal Thackeray — he is the son of Uddhav’s elder brother Bindumadhav aka Binda. With Uddhav’s estranged sister-in-law Smitha, Nihar is among the members of the Thackeray family who have come out in solidarity with Shinde.

Interestingly, Shinde’s alliance partner, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) had in December 2019 attacked the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government for the presence of Aaditya Thackeray’s maternal cousin Varun Sardesai in a meeting chaired by then CM Uddhav. The BJP had alleged that this amounted to a “violation of confidentiality” in the government’s functioning, and had accused Sardesai of emerging as an alternative power centre.

Sardesai is the secretary of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Sena, which is headed by Aaditya.