Sparks fly as Thackeray bumps into Kesarkar

The venue of the animosity this time was legislative council deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe’s office, where Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and BSS spokesman Deepak Kesarkar bumped into each other. Kesarkar was stepping out of Gorhe’s office just as Thackeray was entering

Nagpur: The two Shiv Sena factions leave no stone unturned to accuse each other in the media and state legislature. Coming face-to-face in a smaller indoors space makes matters worse.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray interacts with media in Mumbai. (Satish Bate/HT photo)

The venue of the animosity this time was legislative council deputy chairperson Neelam Gorhe’s office, where Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and BSS spokesman Deepak Kesarkar bumped into each other. Kesarkar was stepping out of Gorhe’s office just as Thackeray was entering, and the latter, unable to contain himself, gave vent to his displeasure.

“What wrong have we done you? What haven’t we done for you in the past?” Thackeray expostulated. “You have instituted a probe against us,” he added, evidently referring to the government’s recent decision to set up an SIT to investigate the death of Disha Salian and the role of Shiv Sena-UBT MLA and former minister Aaditya Thackeray in it.

Thackeray also slammed Kesarkar and his faction for trying to “grab” the Sena (UBT) office in Mumbai. The BMC sealed the offices of all political parties after a ruckus on Wednesday evening between former municipal corporators of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and BSS, with both attempting to grab control of the erstwhile Shiv Sena office in the BMC. The clash led to tension at the BMC for about an hour before the police intervened.

Kesarkar did not rise to Thackeray’s bait and left the place. Later, talking to media persons at the assembly campus, Thackeray referred to the office grab incident again. “Those who don’t have the courage to build anything steal and capture,” he said in a reference to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Reacting to the issue, Sena (UBT) MLA Bhaskar Jadhav condemned the scuffle between the two Shiv Sena factions and said the incident was a “misuse of power” by CM Shinde.

Meanwhile, Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis visited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh headquarters here this morning and paid their tributes at the Dr Hedgewar memorial. They also interacted with senior RSS functionaries and apprised them about the welfare schemes of the state government. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, however, was out of station.