Anand Dubey, a prominent Hindi-speaking leader of Shiv Sena (UBT), has resigned from the party, quoting differences over its stand on Hindutva and Sanatan Dharma.
Dubey announced that he had decided to sever all ties with the party, giving up both his membership and the national spokesperson's post after months of growing discontent over its ideological stance.
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Dubey said he had represented the party's position on a range of issues over the past four to five years, covering matters concerning Maharashtra as well as national and international affairs.
However, he said he had increasingly found it difficult to reconcile the party's messaging with his personal beliefs.
"Every party has an ideology," Dubey said, explaining that his political convictions were shaped by the ideas of Hindutva and Sanatan Dharma, as well as the teachings and legacy of figures such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Swami Vivekananda, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj.
He said he could no longer comfortably defend positions that, in his view, conflicted with those ideals.
Dubey also criticised the party for what he described as its silence on issues he considered significant.
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Referring to Smit Machchhar, whom he credited with demonstrating the power of Bajrangbali, he questioned why the party had not issued a statement on the matter.
"My heroes are not Sharjeel Imam or Umar Khalid; my hero is not Dhruv Rathee," Dubey said, contrasting those figures with the personalities he admires.
His resignation comes amid continuing political contestation in Maharashtra, where the Shiv Sena (UBT), led by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, has sought to maintain its political identity following the party's split in 2022.
Dubey's departure highlights the ideological tensions that can arise within political organisations, particularly over the interpretation of Hindutva and the role of religious and cultural identity in public messaging.
However, the immediate political impact of his exit remains unclear. The resignation statement did not indicate whether Dubey planned to join another political party.
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