Andheri Bypoll: Bal Thackeray's grandson Nihar ready to campaign for Shinde camp

Nihar Thackeray, the grandson of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray, has said that he supports the Eknath Shinde faction of the party and is ready to campaign for the upcoming Andheri East Assembly by election as well as the Mumbai civic body polls.He also did not rule out joining electoral politics.

The BJP, supported by the Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction, has fielded Murji Patel against the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party's Rutuja Latke in the November 3 by election.It will be the first major electoral contest in the state after Shinde's rebellion brought down the previous Maharashtra government led by Uddhav Thackeray in June this year.

Nihar, the son of Bindumadhav Thackeray, Bal Thackeray's eldest son, is a lawyer by profession. He is also part of Chief Minister Shinde's legal team in the battle in the Supreme Court over which is the 'real' Shiv Sena. Shinde was taking forward the legacy of his late grandfather and hence he supported the chief minister, Nihar told PTI in an interview.

Nihar declined to comment on the fissures in the family, but said Bal Thackeray was the glue that kept it together."If required, I will keep myself available for the bypoll and BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) polls. I will continue to extend support to Shinde ji," he added. Bindumadhav Thackeray, producer of the 1996 hit Hindi film "Agni Sakshi" among others, died in a road accident in the same year. Nihar is married to Ankita Patil, the daughter of former Maharashtra minister Harshvardhan Patil who is now with the BJP.