Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde will take the oath as the chief minister of Maharashtra at 7.30 pm today. The announcement was made by the BJP leader and the Leader of the Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis.
Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde landed in Mumbai from Goa today and met Fadnavis at his residence. Today, only Shinde will take oath as CM.
Shinde and Fadnavis reached Raj Bhavan to meet the Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to stake claim to form the government. In the 288-member Maharashtra assembly, the majority mark is 144.
However, earlier today, reports claimed that Devendra Fadnavis would take oath as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
The rebel faction of the Shiv Sena will issue a whip in the House. It says the whip will be binding on the rest of the 16 MLAs in the Uddhav camp.
WHO IS EKNATH SHINDE?
Eknath Shinde, an auto driver in Thane, lost two of his children in a tragic accident. His son and daughter drowned in Satara in front of his eyes. Shinde became reclusive and decided to stay away from politics. He was a Shiv Sena corporator back then.
But Shinde’s political guru, Anand Dighe, led him back into active politics. Late Anand Dighe was a mass leader from Thane.
Soon, Eknath Shinde was appointed as the leader of the house in Thane Municipal corporation. After Dighe’s death in 2001, Shinde grew exponentially and played a crucial role in strengthening the Sena in the state, particularly in the Thane region. He has been responsible for organising the Sena’s major political events.
Shinde carefully built his image mirroring Dighe, with a similar beard, and adopted Dighe’s unique style of functioning.
After Raj Thackeray and Narayan Rane’s revolt, it was Shinde who brought crowds to Sena rallies. During the 2019 political crisis, it was Shinde who wrestled back a few MLAs.
SHINDE’S POLITICAL CAREER
His son, Shrikant Shinde, is the Sena’s Member of Parliament from Kalyan. Eknath Shinde has been elected for four back-to-back terms in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly — 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. He was named Leader of the Opposition in 2014 after the Shiv Sena and the BJP fell out with each other.
When the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was formed, Shinde became cabinet minister for Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings). He is currently the minister of urban affairs.
He recently accompanied Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on his trip to Ayodhya. The Sena has blamed the BJP for trying to topple the MVA government “like was done in states like Madhya Pradesh.”
The political crisis in Maharashtra started after Shinde revolted against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, demanding the party quits the alliance it shares with Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).