Independent MLA and Former BJP Leader Geeta Jain Joins Shiv Sena in Maharashtra
Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (Image: PTI)
Geeta Jain visited `Matoshree’, the residence of Chief Minister and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, where she was inducted into the party, a Sena source said.
Geeta Jain, an independent MLA and former BJP leader from neighbouring Mira Bhayander township, joined the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Saturday. Jain visited `Matoshree’, the residence of Chief Minister and Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, where she was inducted into the party, a Sena source said.
She was accompanied by minister Eknath Shinde and Thane MLA Pratap Sarnaik. Jain, a BJP rebel, won from the Mira Bhayander constituency last year by defeating the BJP’s Narendra Mehta.
After winning she had declared support to the BJP. Recently, water conservation minister Shankarrao Gadakh, who had won from the Nevasa assembly seat as Krantikari Shetkari Paksh’s candidate, joined the Shiv Sena.
On Friday, senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse joined the NCP, which is part of the ruling coalition in the state. But a Sena leader said that the entry of Gadakh and Jain into the party would not change its official tally in the assembly.
“They are not bound by the party’s whip as assembly records will continue to show them as MLAs who won on different symbols,” he said. The Sena has 56 members in the 288-member assembly.
