Thane, Jun 25: Eknath Shinde loyalist Naresh Mhaske on Saturday resigned as the Thane district president of Shiv Sena in protest against the "attitude" of MVA constituent NCP but stressed he will always remain a Shivsainik.

In a letter addressed to Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, the former Thane mayor said Shivsainiks are feeling (politically) "suffocated" because of "Rashtravadi" (NCP) in the last two-and-a-half years. Maharashtra Political Crisis: ’Will Set Up Separate Block of Shiv Sena, Not Merging With Any Other Party As We Respect Uddhav Thackeray', Says Rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar

"I am resigning as the Thane district president of Shiv Sena but will continue to remain a shivsainik forever," he stated.

Mhaske said Shivsainiks believe in the aggressive Hindutva.

He is perhaps the first senior functionary of Shiv Sena from Thane, the hometown of Shinde, to resign from his post.

Shinde, the Sena stalwart from Thane, is currently camping in Guwahati along with a bulk of Sena MLAs.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)