Thane: Former MNS functionary Prakash Mahajan on Friday joined the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. While talks of Mahajan’s possible joining one of the saffron parties were doing the rounds for the last few weeks, his induction was formally announced Friday afternoon by Shinde in Thane. Shinde said Mahajan will be a party spokesperson and will work to build the Sena organisation. He said Mahajan has always been a “Shiv Sainik at heart” who resonates with the common man’s struggle.Mahajan, the brother of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, had been associated with the Raj Thackeray-led MNS since its formation in 2006, but quit the party earlier this year due to differences with its leadership. It is learnt that Mahajan was upset at being sidelined in the MNS.The recent induction of Rashid Khan in the Shiv Sena (UBT) also apparently irked him, following which he decided to associate with Shinde’s Sena. “How can they [Thackerays] talk of Hindutva when they have inducted someone who was associated with communal riots in the past,” Mahajan said, while responding to media queries about whether the Shiv Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance for the civic polls was made using the Marathi and Hindutva plank.Mahajan said he joined the Shiv Sena without any demands for posts or tickets, driven solely by a desire to strengthen Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology.Addressing the media, Shinde said talks of seat sharing in the Mahayuti in Thane and suburban corporations are at an advanced level and will be announced in a day or two. “We are confident of a Mahayuti victory. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is also taking timely review of the elections and is keen for an alliance,” he said.Making a veiled attack on the Thackeray cousins, the deputy CM said, “Those who forsake Balasaheb’s principles are now reaping the fruits of their actions as voters have shown them their place in the past elections…They (Thackeray cousins) are now forging new alliances, but it’s largely driven by selfish interests and hunger for power.”
