Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Former president of Vaijapur Municipal Council and BJP district secretary Dr Dinesh Pardeshi joined the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray group) along with his supporters at Matoshree in Mumbai on Wednesday. During the event, party chief Uddhav Thackeray welcomed him into the party by tying a Shivbandhan around him.
Dr Dinesh Pardeshi has held unilateral power in the Vaijapur Municipal Council since 2001. Previously, he contested elections twice from the Vaijapur Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket. Discussions about his joining the Thackeray group had been ongoing for several days. On September 14, Uddhav Thackeray held a ‘Jansamvad Melava’ for his entry in Vaijapur, during which many of his supporters joined the Thackeray group. However, Pardeshi stayed away from that event, leading to speculation in political circles about whether he would join the Thackeray group or not.
On Wednesday afternoon, he travelled to Mumbai and joined the Thackeray group in the presence of party chief Uddhav Thackeray. Along with him, several members from the market committee, former municipal councillors, gram panchayat members, and members of the Kharedi-Vikri also joined the Shiv Sena. Notable attendees on the occasion included Shiv Sena leader Vinayak Raut, Secretary MLA Milind Narvekar, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council Ambadas Danve, deputy district chief Avinash Galande, tehsil chief Sachin Wani, Prakash Chavan and others.
Pardeshi’s entry into the Thackeray group has dealt a blow to the BJP and poses a new challenge for the sitting MLA Ramesh Bornare.