Amid the controversy over which faction controls and heads ‘real’ Shiv Sena, the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday announced the appointment of executive committee members of the Yuva Sena, the party's youth wing.
Currently, former State Minister Aaditya Thackeray, son of Uddhav Thackeray who heads the other heads the other faction of the party, is the chief of the Yuva Sena.
Interestingly, most of the new post-holders are relatives of rebel MLAs in the Shinde camp who often criticised the Thackeray-led faction of dynastic politics.
Samadhan Sarvankar, Raj Kulkarni, Raj Surve and Prayag Lande were appointed in-charge of the youth wing’s Mumbai unit. Kiran Sali and Sachin Bangar were appointed in-charge of Western Maharashtra.
Mr. Sarvankar, a former councillor of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), is the son of Mahim legislator Sada Sarvankar, Mr. Surve is the son of Magathane MLA Prakash Surve, while Lande is the son of Chandivali legislator Dilip Lande.
The Shinde faction appointed Minister Dada Bhuse’s son Avishkar Bhuse in-charge of North Maharashtra, Vikas Gogavale, Rupesh Patil and Ram Rane were named in-charge of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, respectively. According to party members, Gogavale is a relative of Mahad MLA Bharatshet Gogavale.
Mr. Shinde’s close aide Gopal Lande’s son Nitin Lande was appointed as in-charge for Thane, while Viraj Mahmunmar, Manit Chougule and Rahul Londe were made in-charge for Navi Mumbai and Palghar.
They appointed Abhimanyu Khotkar, a relative of former Minister Arjun Khotkar, and Avinash Khape-Patil as the in-charge of the Marathwada region. For Vidarbha, the faction chose Rushi Jadhav and Vitthal Patil, while Dipesh Mhatre and Prabhudas Naik will head the Yuva Sena in Kalyan and Bhiwandi, respectively.
