Mumbai: Shiv Sena Chief, former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray removed newly sworn-in Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the primary membership of the party.

Uddhav Thackeray in a letter as a Party President said that Shinde has been indulging in anti-party activities and has voluntarily given up his membership. In exercise of the powers vested in me as the Shiv Sena Paksha Pramukha, I remove you from the post of Shiv Sena Leader in the party organization, the letter signed by Uddhav Thackeray said.

While Shinde has claimed that he is the leader of Shiv Sena and the Thackeray camp is a minority, he never called himself Paksha Pramukh (party chief). Thackeray is technically still the party chief. Addressing a press conference at Shiv Sena Bhavan, Thackeray also asked the BJP not to betray Mumbai like it betrayed him.