Mumbai: From a rickshaw driver to the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde created his own mark in state politics.
Hurt after missing the Chief Minister’s post in the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, Shinde took a bold step to stage a rebellion and left Shiv Sena to join the BJP-led MahaYuti alliance.
He succeeded in his gamble as he hit the jackpot by getting the Chief Minister’s post in the MahaYuti government in June 2022.
After a slow and steady start, he tightened his grip on Shiv Sena and also on the government. He claims to be happy to get a new identity of a Ladka Bhau (beloved bhau), especially in the wake of the successful implementation of the Ladki Bahin Yojana.
Shinde also claims that he is happy after being recognised as the common man’s chief minister after he headed the MahaYuti government for two and half years.
Shinde led the MahaYuti alliance which recorded a landslide victory in the just concluded Assembly elections. Although he was initially reluctant to join the Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet as the deputy chief minister, he has ultimately yielded to honour the request made by Fadnavis and a host of party workers.
He faces a tough challenge to adjust to the Deputy Chief Minister’s post as he will now have to focus on discharging his duties in the government led by Devendra Fadnavis and also increase his focus on further strengthening the party organisation ahead of upcoming civics and local body elections which are being looked at as mini assembly elections.
After winning 7 of the 15 seats contested in the Lok Sabha elections, Shinde was credited for Shiv Sena winning 57 after contesting 85 seats in the state Assembly election. Shinde has claimed that Shiv Sena headed by him is now a real Shiv Sena, not the one led by Uddhav Thackeray.
Shinde will have to strike a balance in charting his path in the changed situation. He will have to take due caution so that Shiv Sena’s growth is not overshadowed by BJP.
Already Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has taunted for surrendering to the BJP by accepting the Deputy Chief Minister’s post and sacrificing Balasaheb Thackeray’s thoughts.
Shinde faces a major challenge to consolidate Shiv Sena’s presence in the next five years especially when BJP has already announced its ‘shat pratishat’ objective of winning the 2029 Assembly election by winning a majority on its own.
Influenced by Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray and Shiv Sena’s Thane district chief Anand Dighe, Shinde started his work while taking up social issues in the 1980s.
He participated in many agitations and suffered imprisonment during the Maharashtra-Karnataka border agitation.
He entered into electoral politics in 1997 when he for the first time was elected to the Thane Municipal Corporation as a corporator. He never looked back thereafter. He became the leader of the house in 2001 and held that post for three consecutive years.
He became the state assembly member for the first time in 2004 and won successive elections in 2009, 2009, 2014, 2019 and 2024 from Thane and later from Kapri Pachpakhadi constituencies. He became the Leader of the Opposition for sometime in 2014 and later became the minister in the Devendra Fadnavis-led government between December 2014 and October 2019.
He became the minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government and after deserting him he assumed the Chief Minister’s post in the MahaYuti government in June 2022.
(IANS)
