In a setback to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, its senior leader and former Maharashtra minister Ramdas Kadam resigned from the party on Monday.
Kadam wrote a letter to former Maharashtra chief minister Thackeray, tendering his resignation as "Shiv Sena leader".
Kadam had served as the state environment minister in the BJP-Sena government in the state (2014-19).
He was not given any ministerial post when the Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power (from November 2019 to June 2022) and was apparently sulking.
He was even denied another term as member of the state Legislative Council last year.
Last month, Sena MLA Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party along with 39 legislators.
Ramdas Kadam's son Yogesh Kadam, the MLA from Dapoli in Ratnagiri district, had also joined the Shinde camp.
Shinde was on June 30 sworn in as the chief minister and BJP's Devendra Fadnavis had taken oath as his deputy.
