New Delhi/IBNS: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena Thursday sacked Sanjay Raut, who is close to Uddhav Thackeray, as the leader of its parliamentary party and appointed Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar as his successor.

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Shinde, who is now the chief leader of the Shiv Sena, informed that Kirtikar has been appointed as the leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party.

Shiv Sena leaders on Thursday felicitated Kirtikar at the parliamentary party office located on the third floor of the Parliament building.

Of the 18 Sena members in the Lok Sabha, four are loyal to Uddhav Thackeray, who lost control of the party to Shinde.

Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena last year accusing Thackeray of compromising with the core ideals of the party and joining hands with arch-rivals Congress and NCP to form the government in Maharashtra.

Last month in a major blow to Uddhav Thackeray, whose father Balasaheb Thackeray formed the party, the Election Commission recognised the Shinde-led faction as the real Shiv Sena and granted them to use the name and the poll symbol.

The Shiv Sena has three members in the Rajya Sabha - Sanjay Raut, Anil Desai and Priyanka Chaturvedi who owe their allegiance to Uddhav Thackeray.