Uddhav Thackeray sacks Ramdas Kadam, Anandrao Adsul from Shiv Sena

Hardening his stance against rebellion in the party, Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray on Monday sacked two party veterans - Ramdas Kadam and Anandrao Adsul - who have been in regular touch with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Both Kadam and Adsul had closely worked with the late Balasaheb Thackeray.

Kadam (58), a veteran from the coastal Konkan region, is a four-time MLA and two-time MLC and had served as a minister in the BJP-Shiv Sena government during 2014-2019, but was not given any ministerial post when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power.

His son, Yogesh Kadam, is an MLA who joined the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, last month.

Adsul (75) is a five-time former MP from the Vidarbha region - and he had served as Minister of State for Finance in the Atal Bihari Vajpaye government.

Earlier in the day, Kadam wrote to Uddhav virtually challenging his leadership and resigned as “leader” of Shiv Sena.

“Balasaheb Thackeray made me a ‘leader’ of the Shiv Sena. However, after this death, I experienced that the post now has no value,” he wrote in the letter to Uddhav.

Kadam in the letter pointed out that during 2019, he was among those who requested not to have an alliance with the NCP and Congress.

Kadam did not have good equations with former minister and MLC Anil Parab, who is a close aide of Thackeray.

Kadam claimed that his son Yogesh has been insulted several times in the recent past. He said that when Uddhav was the Chief Minister and was busy, senior leaders of the party were not taken into confidence.

Adsul, had been on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate, had resigned as “leader” of Shiv Sena on July 7.

Meanwhile, in a related development, Thackeray, in a bid to regain control over the party has appointed over 100 new office bearers in districts across the state.