As the Shiv Sena broke ranks with the BJP after over three-decade-long association, a select core group of people form the inner circle of Uddhav Thackeray are leading the charge.
Highly-secretive and loyal, they have seen Shiv Sena from the times of its founder late Bal Thackeray.
At Matoshree bungalow, Uddhav Thackeray's wife Rashmi and sons, Aaditya, who is an MLA from Worli and Tejas, are his constant companion. In fact, Aaditya (29) had been accompanying Uddhav for meetings and events since the last six years. Tejas, a wildlife enthusiast, is of late seen in public functions but he had stayed away from politics.
The 59-year-old Uddhav's close confidantes include Milind Narvekar, Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai, Subhash Desai, Anil Parab, Arvind Sawant, Eknath Shinde, Diwakar Raote, Ramdas Kadam and Harshal Pradhan. They together form the multiple layers of the crisis management teams of Shiv Sena.
The closest among them is Narvekar, his personal assistant and Man Friday. Having a meeting fixed with Uddhav without his knowledge is something that is not possible. He has been with Uddhav for over two decades now. Raut is the Executive Editor of Saamana, the party mouthpiece, and a three-term Rajya Sabha member. His is the man who speaks and writes editorials and is considered the voice of Uddhav. Subhash Desai, a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC), is one of the closest to the family. He was also once a close aide of Balasaheb. Desai is the printer-publisher of Saamana.
Anil Desai is a Rajya Sabha member and party's networking person in New Delhi. A lawyer, Anil Parab, an MLC, is the man who takes care of legal issues. Recently, he filed the plea in the Supreme Court, when the Governor did not allow additional time to the party to stake claim. Sawant, a two-time MP from prestigious Mumbai South seat, was a minister in the Narendra Modi government, who recently resigned, marking Sena's exit from NDA.
The veteran from Thane, Eknath Shinde, who was a minister in the Devendra Fadnavis government, is now the Sena's leader of legislature party. He has been the former leader of Opposition. A great organiser and crowd puller, he knows the ranks and files by names.
Kadam is a former minister and ex-leader of Opposition. He was the person who was instrumental in the plastic ban in Mumbai and elsewhere in Maharashtra. Raote is a former Mumbai mayor, ex-minister, who is close to the Thackeray family. Pradhan, a former journalist, is the media strategist of Uddhav and now Aaditya.
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