Aaditya aide Rahul Kanal joins Shinde-led Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Rahul Kanal was not connected with Shiv Sena and I don’t know why he got so much importance and how he came to the party. I don’t consider him a Sainik because he is deserting the party in times of difficulty

MUMBAI: A day before Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray’s protest march to the headquarters of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to highlight “its corruption over the last one year”, his close aide Rahul Kanal has jumped ship. Kanal will officially join Shiv Sena in the presence of chief minister Eknath Shinde at either his official residence Varsha or Balasaheb Bhavan, in Nariman Point, on Saturday.

Aaditya aide Rahul Kanal joins Shinde-led Shiv Sena

Kanal has been involved in the activities of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Sena (UBT), along with its leader Aaditya Thackeray. However, he was incensed when his supporters were not appointed into the party a couple of days ago. In a tweet on Friday, Kanal expressed: “Feeling sad!!! Very well know who has done this but removing people who have worked for you without a hearing is arrogance and you could remove me but not the people who have worked day and night yet.” He tagged it to ‘Saamana’. In another tweet he stated: “Chalo accha hai sabko pata chale ke ego aur arrogance kya hota hai!! (It is a good thing that everyone now becomes aware about ego and arrogance).”

Though he did not name anyone, party leaders said it was aimed at Aaditya who leads Yuva Sena. Kanal had faced an Income Tax probe in March. He did not respond to calls made by HT regarding this development.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sanjay Raut said, “Rahul Kanal was not connected with Shiv Sena and I don’t know why he got so much importance and how he came to the party. I don’t consider him a Sainik because he is deserting the party in times of difficulty. When the party had power, he enjoyed the fruits. We must introspect why he got such importance.”

Kanal began his career in the party in Mumbai as the office bearer and soon became close to Aaditya. He had switched over from the Congress to join the party. He was a core committee member of Yuva Sena, and as a restaurateur from Bandra, he moved in high profile circles, including Bollywood biggies.

During Shiv Sena’s regime in BMC, he was a member of civic education committee. In Sena (UBT) circles, it was said that he was preparing to contest assembly elections from Bandra West constituency opposite city Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ashish Shelar.

Earlier, key Yuva Sena functionaries such as Purvesh Pratap Sarnaik, Ameya Ghole, Yogesh Kadam and Samadhan Sarvankar had quit the party to join the Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde said, “Rahul has worked in the Yuva Sena for many years. He will be an asset to our party and will help us strengthen it in Bandra and adjoining areas.”