Anand Dubey of Uddhav Sena faction joins Shinde's Shiv Sena in Thane in presence of Deputy CM

Anand Dubey, national spokesperson of the UBT faction, joined the Shiv Sena in Thane on Friday. The party event was held in the presence of Eknath Shinde, the Shiv Sena's chief leader and the state's Deputy Chief Minister. Rahul Kanal, Shiv Sena social media state chief and Yuva Sena general secretary, and several other senior party office-bearers were also present.

Dubey did not come alone. Gulabchand Maurya, Sunil Chaubey, Brijesh Maurya, Dashrath Prajapati, Praveen Dubey, Dhananjay Gupta and several others also took up the Shiv Sena's bow and arrow.

Deputy Chief Minister Shinde said he had seen Dubey working in the Shiv Sena for many years. According to him, this worker, who put forward the party's views at the national level, had today joined the original Shiv Sena. Shinde also said Dubey knew how the Shiv Sena worked and that Rahul Kanal had been in constant touch with him. In Shinde's words, Dubey had joined the right party.

Shinde said, "This is a party of workers, there is no owner here, everyone works as a worker." He said Dubey had taken the "nation first" stand. According to Shinde, this was Balasaheb's stand and is also Modi's today. Shinde said the Shiv Sena is working in different states at the national level, and that Anand Dubey and his team would work to expand the party in Uttar Pradesh.

Referring to his tenure, Shinde said that during two and a half years as Chief Minister, many welfare schemes were run and infrastructure projects completed in the state. He said Maharashtra was taken forward on the path of development and progress during this period, with considerable support from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shinde said Maharashtra is number one in every field today, and that people from different parties are joining the Shiv Sena, impressed by this work.

Speaking on the Legislative Council elections, Shinde said Sachin Sanap originally belongs to the Shiv Sena. In the Pune teachers' constituency, Sanap has the Shiv Sena's full support, and there will be a friendly contest within the Mahayuti there. In the other four places, the election is being fought as the Mahayuti. Shinde expressed confidence that Mahayuti candidates would win in all five.

Targeting the opposition, Shinde said its leaders hold marches against the Supreme Court and stage protests outside the Prime Minister's residence and in Delhi. According to Shinde, foreign forces appear to be behind or involved in these protests. He said the opposition wants to spread unrest and anarchy in the country. Citing the examples of Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Shinde asked what this indicated.

Shinde alleged that Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is insulting the constitutional institutions created by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. According to him, Gandhi, while carrying a copy of the Constitution, is acting against it, attacking the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, and inciting people through a fake narrative.

Shinde said the country's 140 crore people would not fall for the opposition's fake narrative and that the public would stand with those who work. He said it was unfortunate that Rahul Gandhi spoke the language of breaking the country, and that he should talk of uniting it. Shinde also said Rahul Gandhi and the INDI alliance tried to pressure the Supreme Court, and that the court reprimanded them for it.