Uddhav Thackeray should remain accessible, says Shiv Sena UBT former Secretary

A day after Shiv Sena UBT Secretary Sanjay Lakhe–Patil resigned from the party, he said Uddhav Thackeray should remain accessible to his own party’s cadres for the organisation to strengthen. “If the top leader does not stay accessible to his party’s workers, the organisation stagnates. Even in the Congress, the democratic environment had strengthened when Sonia Gandhi was at the helm. She used to meet everyone. But when Rahul Gandhi took charge, the PAs became more important. People here have a similar feeling,” Sanjay Lakhe Patil told The Hindu on Monday (June 23, 2025). The resignation comes amid a spate of resignations of local leaders from the party in the recent past.

Last year, he had moved over from the Congress to the Shiv Sena UBT, and was elevated to the Secretary position, which is considered to be a prominent position in the saffron party. Within a year, Mr. Lakhe-Patil has resigned.

Elaborating on the reasons for his resignation, he said, “You aren’t given organisational responsibility. You are deliberately kept away from the party’s events in your own constituency. In my case, I was assured by none other than Uddhav Thackerayji that I will be given the Jalna seat for the Lok Sabha elections. But Sanjay Raut played dirty tricks. He needlessly canvassed in Sangli and took a losing seat for the party. He let go the Jalna seat instead. It was clear as sunshine that Vishal Patil always had the winning edge in Sangli. If the party would have given Sangli to Congress and taken Jalna instead, the MVA would have won both the seats. Instead, the alliance lost both.”

He said the sentiment of being sidelined was widespread within the party. “Many feel that only a handful people have full access and the others are completely ignored. In my case, I was deliberately kept in the dark about the party’s work in my own area of influence,” he added. In his one page resignation letter, he has blamed Sanjay Raut, Ambadas Danve for his resignation.

He has also accused Ambadas Danve of stealing his ideas to steal credit for their success.

“When key appointments are made, you are not taken into confidence. The environment is not accommodative. People in the party keep mocking you when you are kept out of all the processes. Everyone sees that you are being isolated,” he said.

There has been a spate of resignations from the party in the recent past, as several local leaders have joined either Ekanth Shinde or the BJP. This comes at a time when the State prepares for the upcoming local body elections which have been pending for years.

“Basically, I was given the responsibility of co-ordination with the civil society and NGOs. I brought everyone on-board, including Tushar Gandhi, Ulka Mahajan. We had involved them in campaigning,” Mr. Lakhe Patil said, adding he had not yet decided about his next step of action.