Shiv Sena sacks Sanjay Raut as parliamentary party leader

New Delhi: Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena removed Sanjay Raut as the leader of its parliamentary party and replaced Raut with Lok Sabha member Gajanan Kirtikar, PTI reported.

Maharastra Chief Minister Shinde wrote Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, saying that Kirtikar has been appointed as the leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.

Shiv Sena leaders felicitated Kirtikar at the parliamentary party office located on the third floor of the Parliament building on Thursday.

Shiv Sena has 18 members in the Lok Sabha, and only four of them are loyal to Uddhav Thackeray, who lost control of the party to Shinde. Shinde had split the party last year, accusing Thackeray of compromising with the core ideals of the party and joining hands with arch-rivals Congress and NCP to form the government in Maharashtra.

In favour of the Shinde faction, the Election Commission recognised them as real Shiv Sena and offered them the name and poll symbol.

The three LS members of Shiv Sena who pay loyalties to Uddhav Thackeray are Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai and Priyanka Chaturvedi.