Shock to Uddhav as loyalist Sawant joins Shinde!

Mumbai: In a setback to Uddhav Thackeray, former Maharashtra health minister Deepak Sawant on Wednesday joined Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in the presence of CM Shinde.

Sawant was an MLC of then united Shiv Sena and was cabinet minister for public health from 2014 to 2018 in the Devendra Fadanvis-led government. He was dropped from the cabinet and denied ticket for legislative council election by Uddhav Thackeray in 2018.

His ‘entry program’ was held at Balasaheb Bhavan in Mumbai. Addressing a presser, Sawant stressed that Shiv Sena Chief Balasaheb Thackeray and Thackeray Group Chief Uddhav Thackeray gave him a lot. “But I have been retired since last three years. I don’t want a ministerial post, I want a job. I was made a MLA. Thank you very much. But since the last three years, I have been given retirement. I wanted to work. But now I will get a job through Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. I don’t want to become a minister. I want to work. I gave an online letter to Uddhav Sahab saying, Give me work,” said Deepak Sawant.

On this occasion, Eknath Shinde welcomed Deepak Sawant in his party and said that no one can stop a worker. “Today former health minister Dr. Deepak Sawant has joined Shiv Sena. When he was a minister, he also went to villages and worked in remote areas to reduce malnutrition in Palghar, Melghat and other districts of the state. The concept of telemedicine was his. He identified problems in government hospitals and found solutions for them,” Shinde said.