Mumbai, Maharashtra minister Uday Samant on Friday said former NCP leader Anand Paranjpe was inducted into the Shiv Sena to stop him from joining any Opposition party, and added that the Sunetra Pawar-led party was kept in the loop about his induction to avoid any misunderstanding with it.
Paranjpe on Thursday resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) helmed by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, and later joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Both the NCP and Shiv Sena are part of the ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra along with the BJP.
Addressing a press conference on Friday, Samant said Paranjpe, a two-time MP who represented the Shiv Sena from Thane and Kalyan Lok Sabha constituencies, was inducted into the Shiv Sena to ensure that he does not enter any Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) party.
"We were of the opinion that Anand Paranjpe should not enter any MVA party," the Shiv Sena leader said.
"When we decided to induct Paranjpe into Shiv Sena, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde tried to call NCP president Sunetra Pawar, but she was in an event and they could not talk immediately," he said.
After that the party tried to contact NCP MP Parth Pawar, but could not get through to him. Then, his younger brother Jay Pawar was contacted and he was informed about the Paranjpe's induction into the Shiv Sena, the minister added.
"The NCP leaders were informed because we did not want any misunderstanding within the Mahayuti,," Samant noted.
Paranjpe, son of veteran Shiv Sena leader late Prakash Paranjpe, had quit the Shiv Sena in 2012 and joined the NCP. He sided with late Ajit Pawar after the latter joined the Mahayuti government in July 2023, which also led to a split within the NCP.
Paranjpe had won the Thane Lok Sabha constituency by-election in 2008 as a Shiv Sena candidate following his father's death. In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he was elected from the Kalyan seat in the district from the party.
He, however, lost the 2014 Lok Sabha election from Kalyan to undivided Shiv Sena's Shrikant Shinde.
Paranjpe had been reportedly disgruntled after he failed to get candidature from the NCP for an MLC seat.
