The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on Wednesday nominated Thane MP Rajan Vichare as the party's chief whip in Lok Sabha in place of Bhavana Gawali with immediate effect, party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said in a letter to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Vichare represents Shiv Sena from Thane, which is a stronghold of current Maharashtra Chief Minister and rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde.

Bhavana Gawali, who hails from the Yavatmal-Washim LS constituency in Maharashtra, was one of the MPs from Shiv Sena to suggest that the party ally with BJP during the rebellion led by Shinde, news agency PTI reported.

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Who is Rajan Vichare?

Born on August 1, 1961, Vichare is a Shiv Sena Member of Parliament and social worker. He was elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 and re-elected for the second term to 17th Lok Sabha in 2019. Prior to becoming an MP, Vichare served as a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from 2009 to 2014. He was the Mayor of Thane Municipal Corporation in 2007.

Between 1992 and 2014, Vichare was elected as the corporator for four terms.

Association with Shiv Sena

Vichare has been associated with Shiv Sena since his childhood and became a full-time worker of the party in 1985. Vichare, like Shinde, is an admirer of late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe and credited him for their political journey.

Other contributions

As the Mayor of the Thane Municipal Corporation, Vichare started the initiative called the SATIS Project, focussing on improvement of the traffic situation at Thane stations. As a social worker, Vichare has organised Dibyang assistance camps, provided financial assistance to the poor and also organised different types of training/coaching for unemployed youth to help them prepare for professional examinations.

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(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)