Sanjay Raut said that former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya possesses the capability to take command of the party going forward

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut on Friday signalled a bigger role for Aaditya Thackeray in Shiv Sena (UBT) as the party witnesses a second split in four years.While talking to news agency PTI, Raut said that former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray‘s son Aaditya possesses the capability to take command of the party going forward.“The next generation should gradually take greater responsibility. For how many years will we continue to work? We have been working for 40 years. Young leaders must take the command of the party, and he (Aaditya) has been doing it,” Raut said.“He will do it officially too. He has the capability, and we will welcome him,” he added.Aaditya, the elder son of Uddhav Thackeray, currently represents the Worli assembly constituency in Mumbai. He is the president of the party’s youth wing and served as the state environment minister during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, which was in power from November 2019 to June 2022.Earlier this week, six Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs crossed over to the rival faction led by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde.Raut’s remarks came as party chief Uddhav Thackeray planned a tour of the constituencies represented by the six party MPs who crossed over to the rival Shiv Sena faction.He described Uddhav Thackeray’s tour as part of an outreach effort to directly explain the party’s position to voters and workers in the constituencies of the MPs who defected.The six Sena (UBT) MPs — Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East), Omprakash Rajenimbalkar (Dharashiv), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi) and Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli) — joined the ruling Sena on June 22.Meanwhile, Raut chose not to address the defected leaders as “rebels”, arguing that the term should be reserved for freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and Sukhdev rather than politicians switching sides for money, power and protection.Alleging that the MPs sold themselves for crores of rupees, Raut maintained that the ground-level party cadre remained firmly with Uddhav Thackeray.