Shiv Sena’s ‘missing’ Palghar MLA Shrinivas Vanga returns home    

Shiv Sena MLA Shrinivas Vanga, who represents Maharashtra’s Palghar constituency, has returned home two days after remaining unreachable.

Earlier, his family members had said that the legislator was upset after being denied a ticket by the Eknath Shinde-led party for the upcoming state polls. He had apparently been incommunicado since Monday evening.

His family had not filed any police complaint.

After his return on Wednesday, Vanga, said, “I needed rest and hence decided to be away from home and others for a couple of days.” He did not elaborate on where he was for two days.

Vanga had told reporters on Monday that he committed a “grave mistake” by siding with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and joining his party. Videos of Vanga’s emotional responses had gone viral on social media.

Vanga, the son of late BJP MP Chintaman Vanga, became an MLA after winning the 2019 Assembly elections as a candidate of undivided Shiv Sena from the Palghar (Scheduled Tribes) seat.

After a split in the Sena, he had supported Shinde. He was hoping to be renominated from the seat by the party.

However, the Sena nominated former MP Rajendra Gavit, who had also sided with Shinde when he rebelled against the then Sena head Uddhav Thackeray in June 2022.

Vanga had also described Thackeray, who now heads Shiv Sena (UBT), as a “dev manus” (God-like man). PTI