MUMBAI: Former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Tejasvee Ghosalkar on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, delivering a setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party in north Mumbai’s Dahisar, a constituency long associated with the Ghosalkar family.
Tejasvee Ghosalkar, the widow of Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Abhishek Ghosalkar who was shot dead during a Facebook Live broadcast in February 2024, resigned from the party earlier in the day and formally joined the BJP in the presence of Mumbai BJP chief Ameet Satam and MLC Pravin Darekar.
In a post on X (Twitter) and an open letter addressed to residents of her area, Ghosalkar said she was leaving the Shiv Sena (UBT) “with a heavy heart” but felt compelled to take the decision in the interest of development. “Though my relationship with the party has ended, the bonds will remain. Shiv Sena gave me my identity,” she wrote, adding that she would continue to serve the people and would speak about the reasons for her decision at a later stage.
Speaking after joining the BJP, Ghosalkar said she would accept any responsibility assigned to her by the party. “I worked sincerely in the Shiv Sena (UBT) and will now work even harder in my new party,” she said, while declining to elaborate on the circumstances that led to her exit.
Ghosalkar was elected corporator from Ward No. 1 in Dahisar in the 2017 BMC elections and later served as the women’s wing head of Sena (UBT) in the Dahisar assembly constituency. Her political journey, however, has been shaped by personal tragedy and internal party tensions.
Her husband, Abhishek Ghosalkar, son of former MLA Vinod Ghosalkar, was shot dead in early 2024 by Morris Noronha, who later died by suicide. Following allegations of lapses in the initial police investigation, the Bombay High Court in September last year transferred the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). On Monday, Ghosalkar expressed disappointment over the pace of the CBI investigation and said she hoped it would be completed at the earliest.
Differences within the Ghosalkar family and Sena (UBT) came into the open during the 2024 assembly elections, when both Tejasvee Ghosalkar and her father-in-law sought the Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket from the Dahisar seat. Party chief Uddhav Thackeray eventually left the decision to the family, following which Vinod Ghosalkar contested and lost to BJP’s Manisha Chaudhary.
Sources said tensions resurfaced ahead of the BMC polls, with Tejasvee keen to contest again from Ward No. 1, while Vinod Ghosalkar was reportedly pushing for his younger son to be fielded from the seat.
In June this year, Ghosalkar was appointed as a director on the board of Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank in place of her late husband, an appointment facilitated by BJP MLC Pravin Darekar. The move was widely seen as a signal of her growing proximity to the BJP and a precursor to Monday’s political switch.
Reacting emotionally to her decision, Vinod Ghosalkar broke down before television cameras. “If Abhishek were alive, this would not have happened,” he said. “There is a difference between a son and a daughter-in-law. A son can be questioned and stopped, but that is not possible with a daughter-in-law.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, responding to the development, said, “There is a lot that I can say, but this is not the time for it.”