The winner of the Mahrashtra elections is soon to be declared as the counting of votes is almost complete. Who will be the next CM remains the big question. One of the prominent candidates who is most probably the next CM is Eknath Shinde. The big turning point of Maharashtra politics was brought by Eknath Shinde after splitting from Shiv Sena. He was a known loyalist to the Shiv Sena party who later turned out to be rebel and splitted from the party to form his own Shiv Sena. Now that the stage is set after the Mahayuti Alliance is set to form the government, let’s look back at Eknath Shinde’s early life and his entry into politics.
Early Life and Struggles
Shinde was born on February 9, 1964, in the Maratha village of Dare in Maharashtra’s Satara district. He was raised in Thane after his family moved there. Shinde has experienced a lot of struggle and hardship in Thane, which made him leave his studies. He dropped out of Mangala High School & Junior College after Class 11 in order to begin providing for his family. Dreaming of a better life, he used to drive an autorickshaw to meet his financial struggles. He eventually returned to school and earned his bachelor’s degree from Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University in 2020, which solidified his passion for personal development. Shinde is married to Lata Shinde, and he has a son, Dr. Shrikant Shinde, an orthopedic surgeon and Member of Parliament for the Kalyan constituency since 2014.
Entry into Politics
The late Anand Dighe, a strong Shiv Sena leader in Thane, had a significant impact on Shinde’s decision to enter politics. Shinde advanced through the Shiv Sena ranks under Dighe’s guidance; he was well-known for his stronghold in the Thane district and his grassroots connections.
Eknath Shinde’s political career started in the middle of the 1990s when he joined the Shiv Sena, a party that prominent Maharashtra leader Balasaheb Thackeray founded. Shinde was first elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly in 2004, representing the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency in Thane. He continued to build his political influence, securing re-elections in 2009, 2014, and 2019. During his time in the Assembly, Shinde held several key positions, including Minister for Public Works (Public Undertakings) from 2014 to 2019, and later as Minister of Urban Development and Public Health in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
The Maharashtra elections entered a new phase in 2019. After a split mandate in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena broke with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). The Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, took the oath of office.
However, many senior leaders, including Eknath Shinde, were unhappy with the alliance with the NCP and Congress. The party’s alliance with Congress, which has historically been seen as a fierce political rival, made them uneasy. However, anything and everything in politics is subject to change. Shinde and others felt that the alliance contradicted the fundamental Hindutva principles that the party’s founder, Balasaheb Thackeray, advocated. Shiv Sena cadre dissatisfaction grew over time as a result of this ideological divide, especially among those who supported the late Thackeray’s vision.
The Split from SHIV SENA
The internal dissension in Shiv Sena peaked when Eknath Shinde and 39 rebel MLAs went against the MVA government, led by Uddhav Thackeray, in June 2022. The rebel group first moved to Surat, Gujarat, and then to Guwahati, Assam, to brook security concerns. Shinde argued that Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideology, which his faction portrayed as the “true” Shiv Sena, had been diluted through Uddhav’s secular alliance with parties such as the Congress. The Thackeray faction filed a disqualification suit against the rebel MLAs on grounds of having defected under the provisions of the Indian Constitution’s 10th Schedule. The latter moved to the Supreme Court against the disqualification notices.
The Supreme Court intervened, granting relief to the rebel MLAs by delaying the disqualification procedure, and Shinde’s group was given space. Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari called for a floor test to see if the Uddhav Thackeray government had a majority anymore as the political drama unfolded. On June 29, 2022, Uddhav Thackeray resigned as chief minister due to the possibility that he would lose the trust vote. On the second day, Maharashtra’s chief minister, Eknath Shinde, installed with the BJP’s support, was sworn in. He was supported by BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy chief minister.
Within days of his succession to the seat of power, Eknath Shinde claimed ownership over the name and the symbol of Shiv Sena, known for “bow and arrow.” This immediately led to a heavy legal fight between the two factions—Shinde and Thackeray. On February 17, 2023, the ECI took a crucial decision to recognize the Shinde faction as the original Shiv Sena, hence the original party name and symbol. The decision of the ECI rested on the tangible proof that Shinde was supported by the majority of the Shiv Sena MLAs and MPs, dealing a crippling blow to the Thackeray camp.
Uddhav Thackeray’s faction, which has been labelling itself Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) or Shiv Sena (UBT), continued challenging it in court as the ECI had improperly accepted the Shinde faction’s claims. In Lok Sabha 2024 and Maharashtra election 2024, Eknath Shinde and his party are part of the Mahayuti alliance.
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