In what is said to be an unparalleled change from the norms, Bollywood actress Urmila Matondkar got a 'ticket' first and then officially joined the Shiv Sena, on Tuesday.
Many senior leaders from the party along with the Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray were present at the event.
Shiv Sena President and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray accorded Matondkar a warm welcome to the party fold while his wife Rashmi Thackeray tied her a thread, 'Shiv Bandhan' symbolising her ties with the new party. She bowed with folded hands and paid her respects before a wall-portrait of the founder-patriarch of Shiv Sena, the late Balasaheb Thackeray and his wife Meenatai Thackeray, at 'Matoshri'.
The development came after she remained in a 'denial mode' for 14 months since she quit the Congress and even after she got a ticket from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to the Maharashtra Legislature's upper house. The MVA in November recommended Matondkar's name - along with 11 others of MVA to Raj Bhavan for a wanted nomination to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the quota of Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Urmila Matondkar quit Congress in September 2019, alleging party infighting, post-defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections at the hands of Gopal Shetty from Bharatiya Janata Party in North Mumbai constituency.
Recently, Urmila and actress Kangana Ranaut were engaged in a verbal scuffle after the latter made some remarks targeting Matondkar on the social media.
