Rahul Kanal left the Uddhav Thackeray faction yesterday and joined Shiv Sena.
Bombay:
In a setback for the faction led by Uddhav Thackeray, a key leader, Rahul Kanal, left the party and joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday. Rahul Kanal was considered a close associate of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray.
Mr Kanal, who was raided by the Income Tax Department last year, was part of Yuva Sena’s core committee led by Aaditya Thackeray.
Mr. Kanal stated his decision to leave the faction and said there was no pressure on him to join the Shiv Sena.
“Some say that my name is involved in corruption, but if there had been any pressure against me, I would have joined long ago,” Kanal told NewsMadura.
He also said he would leave politics if any of the corruption charges against him were proven.
On his collaboration with Aaditya Thackeray, Mr. Kanal claimed that it took him months to get the leader’s attention.
“I have been trying to talk to him for the past 4 months since I left the Yuva Sena group because there were problems. But still no one tried to contact me,” said Kanal.
“People call me a close associate of Aaditya Thackeray, but it took me 4 months to get in touch with him. I don’t know what ordinary people would face,” he added.
Last year, the Shiv Sena, then led by Uddhav Thackeray, split into two factions after Shinde, then minister in the government of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), sparked a rebellion in the ranks.
Thackeray’s government eventually fell and the Shinde camp came to power with the support of the BJP.
