Uddhav Thackeray's close aide Ravindra Waikar joins Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena
Thackeray faction a MLA and close aide of Uddhav Thackeray has joined the Shiv Sena (shinde). Ravindra Waikar the Jogeshwari MLA was welcomed on Sunday by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his official residence ‘Varsha’.
The development was in the offing for a while with the UBT camp claiming earlier in February that its MLAs like Waikar were under pressure to switch sides to the Shinde camp due to the probes by the central agencies. Waikar’s entry into the Shiv Sena would hurt the UBT faction as he was not just close to Uddhav but also had business interests with the Thackeray family. Waikar had entered into buying several land parcels with the Thackerays which BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had been raising. Waikar was also being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for constructing a hotel on a plot of land that was reserved by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for a garden.
Significantly while Waikar’s entry into the Shiv Sena was being talked about for a while, the Jogeshwari MLA on Sunday surprised many as he was present to welcome Uddhav
Thackeray at the UBT party office in Jogeshwari. Waikar had been absent for several party functions since February sparking talk that he was headed to Shiv Sena.
Waikar’s problems with the Enforcement Directorate stemmed due to him building a five star hotel at the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link road which was reserved for a garden. During the MVA government tenure the Jogeshwari MLA had received permission to build a 14 storeyed hotel. While the Economic Offences Wing of the
