Shinde camp to hold executive committee meet soon

Mumbai: After being awarded the name Shiv Sena and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, the Eknath Shinde-led faction is likely to hold its first executive committee meeting in Mumbai soon

Mumbai: After being awarded the name Shiv Sena and the ‘bow and arrow’ symbol, the Eknath Shinde-led faction is likely to hold its first executive committee meeting in Mumbai soon.

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The faction, which has been calling itself the real Shiv Sena right from day one, has had only one executive meeting. Now after the Election Commission of India(ECI) recognising it as the official Sena, the leaders will have to work out a proper set up.

Party secretary Kiran Pawaskar said, “Now we are the official Shiv Sena. We will soon hold a meeting of our executive for which our MLAs will also be called. We will decide the organisation structure and follow the original structure of Shiv Sena done by Uddhav Thackeray. We do not want to change it.”

Meanwhile, party spokesperson Sheetal Mhatre said, “We will soon decide the time and venue of the meeting. This is to decide rules and regulations.’’

“Nearly 80% of the gat pramukhs have been appointed. We have to strengthen our base in Mumbai and we can take the Uddhav faction head on. There will be cohesion in our party following the conclave,” deputy leader Krishna Hegde said.

Sources said that there is no cohesion in the Eknath Shinde and the MLAs keep making statements contrary to what others say. The MLAs are likely to be told to spend more time in their constituencies and less in Mantralaya. Sources also said that a communication cell will be set up and there will be coordination between all spokespersons to ensure uniformity in statements. As Shinde is the chief minister and also the head of the Shiv Sena, it will be difficult to manage both the roles. Hence, some of the organisational responsibilities will have to be delegated to others.

“So far, we are operating from Balasaheb Bhavan which is a government bungalow. Since Shiv Sena bhavan is not a property of the party, we cannot take control of it. We need a party headquarters which has a central hall,’’ a key leader of the Shinde faction said.