MUMBAI: As was expected, actress turned politician Urmila Matondkar who entered politics last year and had a very brief stint with the Indian National Congress party joined the Shiv Sena today in presence of party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and other Sena leaders at the CM’s residence Matoshree.

As a party ritual Rashmi Thackeray tied a saffron thread ('Shiv Bandhan') on Urmila’s wrist and inducted her in the party.

Shiv Sena leader and spokesperson Sanjay Raut had already announced that Matondkar will formally join Sena and had said that with her induction in the party its Mahila Aghadi will get stronger. 

Forty six years old Matondkar's entry into Sena was not surprising since the party had already forwarded her name to Governor BS Koshyari for nomination to the Legislative Council from the governor's quota, along with names of 11 others of the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, although its yet to be accepted by him.

Matondkar had joined the Congress in March 2019 and was given a ticket to contest from Mumbai North constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election, but she lost to BJP's heavyweight Gopal Shetty. Six months down the line, in September 2019, she resigned from the party, citing petty internal politics and in-fighting.

Sources in Congress say that senior party leaders from Mumbai were contemplating to assuage her nominate her for the MLC seat from their quota but Matondkar showed no interest in their proposal. This was confirmed by Matondkar who said she had cordially refused the offer from Congress. On the other hand, Thackeray is said to have personally spoken to her and offered to nominate her from Sena'a quota, which she readily accepted.