Urmila Matondkar Likely to Join Shiv Sena Today

Bollywood actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar is likely to join the Shiv Sena on Tuesday.

Shiv Sena MP and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut on Monday said that the Bollywood actor will join the Shiv Sena on December 1. She will be holding a press conference at 4 pm on Tuesday to make an announcement about her political future.

"She (Urmila Matondkar) may join Shiv Sena tomorrow. She is a Shivsainik. We are happy that she is joining the Shiv Sena. This will strengthen the party's 'mahila aghadi'," Raut said.

A close aide of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that Matondkar will join the party in the CM's presence. "Very late last night things were finalized and she will join the Shiv Sena formally in presence of party president and CM Thackerayji on Tuesday," the CM's aide Harshal Pradhan told IANS.

Matondkar's name, along with 11 others has reportedly been forwarded to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari by the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government for nomination to the Legislative Council from the governor's quota. The list is pending with Koshyari.

Matondkar, 46, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North constituency. Last year, she resigned from the Congress, which is a key ally of the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, citing petty in-house politics in the Mumbai Congress as the reason.

Even before the 2019 Maharashtra elections, speculations were rife that she would join the Sena, Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party, or even Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, but she had scoffed it as rumours.