Actor Urmila Matondkar is all set to join the Shiv Sena and the announcement is likely to be made on Tuesday.
Ms. Matondkar contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the North Mumbai constituency on a Congress ticket. Even though she lost the election to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gopal Shetty, she was seen as an addition to the Mumbai Congress team. However, months after the elections, Ms. Matondkar quit the Congress citing petty in-house politics in the Mumbai Congress as the reason.
She reportedly said, “My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a means to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress.”
Since then, Ms. Matondkar has been politically inactive. Two months ago, she lashed out at actor Kangana Ranaut for her [Ms. Ranaut’s] remarks comparing Mumbai to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, saying that she [Ms. Matondkar] could never tolerate defamatory remarks about the city. Ms. Matondkar also questioned the extension of Y-Plus security to Ms. Ranaut with taxpayers’ money. Later, Ms. Ranaut used objectionable language against her, calling Ms. Matondkar a “soft porn star”.
For days now, Ms. Matodkar’s name has been discussed as one of the 12 candidates to be suggested for the Maharashtra Council elections as the Shiv Sena’s candidate. The list is presently pending with Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Since then, the possibility of her joining the Sena is being discussed.
According to Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP, Ms. Matondkar is likely to join his party on Tuesday in the presence of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery. Ms. Matondkar will be holding a press conference at 4 p.m. on Tuesday to make an announcement about her political future.