Actor Urmila Matondkar on Tuesday joined Shiv Sena in presence of party president and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. “She (Urmila Matondkar) may join Shiv Sena tomorrow. She is a Shivsainik. We are happy that she is joining the Shiv Sena. This will strengthen the party’s ‘mahila aghadi’,” Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut had earlier said on Monday. Matondkar had last year resigned from the Congress party, a key ally of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra. She had cited inaction on the part of key functionaries of Mumbai Congress as the reason of her resignation.
Senior Shiv Sena leaders said that the leadership was impressed with the manner in which Matondkar took on actor Kangana Ranaut when the latter and the party were locked in a war of words after Ranaut equated Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).Matondkar will be an additional resource for the Sena to put out its messages on a national level. Party insiders said that Matondkar is a well-known face nationally, has a good social connect within Maharashtra and will become an additional voice for the party on issues. According to party insiders, the Sena has already proposed Matondkar’s name for one of the 12 Governor-nominated seats in the state legislative council.