Controversy over remarks on Balasaheb Thackeray’s death, Shiv Sena UBT to file defamation case

Shiv Sena UBT will file a defamation suit against Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam for his controversial claims about the death of Sena leader Balasaheb Thackeray, Sena UBT leader Anil Parab said at a press conference on Saturday (October 4, 2025). He also said that the claims made by Ramdas Kadam were a figment of imagination and were made to divert attention from the issues being faced by Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray refused to respond to the allegations. “I don’t respond to traitors and backstabbers, I don’t need to give a response. The entire country and the State of Maharashtra know what the Thackerays are. So I don’t need to say anything,” he told reporters in Pune on Saturday.

“I will file a defamation suit against him and will donate all the money to the farmers affected by natural disasters. Meanwhile, I want him to undergo a narco test about his wife’s death. How did she die?” Anil Parab asked. He also claimed that the allegations were being levelled with the intent of poisoning people’s minds about Uddhav Thackeray at a time when the BMC elections were round the corner.

“Why did Kadam agree to become a Minister from (undivided) Shiv Sena in the Devendra Fadnavis government (in 2014-19) if he thought that Uddhav Thackeray was a bad person?” he asked. He also narrated how Uddhav Thackeray had given a ticket to Ramdas Kadam’s son Yogesh Kadam in the 2019 elections. Yogesh Kadam is currently the Minister of State (Home) in the Maharashtra government.

Ramdas Kadam had earlier claimed that Balasaheb Thackeray’s body was kept in Matoshree for two days after his death. He also sought narco test on Uddhav Thackeray about the incidents after the Hindutva leader’s demise in 2012.

“Why was Balasaheb’s body kept for two days? What was happening inside? People said fingerprints were taken. But for what purpose? When was his will prepared and who signed it? All these details must come out. Balasaheb’s death took place two days earlier, but his body was kept inside Matoshree for taking hand impressions. This is what the doctors who treated him had told me. Even inside Matoshree, people were discussing it,” Ramdas Kadam had said earlier.

He had also claimed that he had told Uddhav Thackeray to take the impression of Balasaheb Thackeray’s feet, but that Uddhav Thackeray had told him he had taken impressions of his palms. “What use did you make of these impressions?” he had asked.

Supporting Ramdas Kadam, Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane said, “Who was to arrive from Switzerland? And in which flight? They should give an answer. For which property, which papers?”

Meanwhile, after the Shiv Sena UBT threatened to file a defamation suit, Mr Kadam too said he will file a defamation about the claims made about his wife.

The controversy has been brewing in Maharashtra politics for the last two days after Ramdas Kadam’s sensational claims.