Firebrand leader Shishir Shinde - who shot to fame in October 1991 when he along with other Shiv Sena workers had dug up the pitch Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the run up to an India-Pakistan match - has quit the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
When in Shiv Sena, Shinde was considered close to late Balasaheb Thackeray.
By digging and pouring engine oil, the pitch was rendered useless for matches and led to the cancellation of the series.
The 69-year-old Shinde had served as a Corporator of the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation and a two-time former member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.
In 2015 when Raj Thackeray left the Shiv Sena and founded the MNS, Shinde joined him.
However, he returned to Shiv Sena in 2018.
On June 30, 2022, after the split, he was appointed the Deputy Leader of Shiv Sena (UBT).
“I am quitting as Deputy Leader and leaving the Shiv Sena (UBT),” Shinde said in a letter to Thackeray.
“In the last six months, it became impossible to even meet you. It does not appeal to my sensitive mind to be unwanted by anyone. I stop my intrusion. Without making any public accusations through this letter....Jai Maharashtra,” he wrote.