Eknath Shinde sacked as Shiv Sena group leader in Maharashtra Assembly: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said Eknath Shinde has been removed as the party's group leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

He has been replaced with Ajay Choudhury, Raut told reporters. After the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) suffered a setback in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls on Monday, Shinde went incommunicado.

He is camping at a hotel in Gujarat's Surat city along with some party MLAs. 

Meanwhile, Shinde has put out a tweet saying, "Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva. We have never and will never cheat for power regarding Balasaheb's thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb's teachings."

आम्ही बाळासाहेबांचे कट्टर शिवसैनिक आहोत... बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला हिंदुत्वाची शिकवण दिली आहे.. बाळासाहेबांचे विचार आणि धर्मवीर आनंद दिघे साहेबांची शिकवण यांच्याबाबत आम्ही सत्तेसाठी कधीही प्रतारणा केली नाही आणि करणार नाही

— Eknath Shinde - एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 21, 2022

In the Legislative Council polls held for 10 seats on June 20, the BJP managed to win all the five seats it had contested though it had votes to win four candidates. The Sena and NCP won two seats each. Congress suffered a jolt as one of its two nominees lost.

(With inputs from PTI)

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