In another jolt to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, party spokesperson and former Mumbai corporator Sheetal Mhatre on Tuesday, 12 July, joined the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
Mhatre, who represented ward no. 7 in suburban Dahisar in north Mumbai in 2012 and 2017, is the first former Shiv Sena corporator to have openly announced support for the newly sworn-in Maharashtra chief minister.
On Tuesday night, Mhatre along with some Shiv Sena workers, visited Shinde's residence to express her support, news agency PTI reported.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena had appointed Mhatre as the 'sampark sanghatak' (coordinator) for the Alibaug-Pen area.
The crucial elections to the Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are scheduled to be held in the next few months.
Shinde's rebellion within the Shiv Sena in June led to the downfall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state.
He was sworn in as the chief minister on 30 June with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy, a day after Thackeray stepped down as CM on 29 June.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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