Eknath Shinde created a storm in Marathi politics. And this is the reason why Uddhav Thackeray resigned from the post of Chief Minister of Maharashtra on Wednesday night. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis announced his name as the new chief minister after presenting a proposal to form the government at the Raj Bhavan on Thursday. Shinde will take oath at 7.30 pm. But who is this Eknath Shinde? What is the story of his rise in Maharashtra politics?
Eknath Shinde, 58, started his life as an auto driver. Uddhav Thackeray’s father Balasaheb Thackeray was the political mentor of Eknath Shinde. He has gradually taken over the command of the Maharashtra government. Uddhav Thackeray’s government fell because of him. His inspiration was Balasaheb Thackeray.
Eknath Shinde, a resident of Satara, Maharashtra, started his career with student politics. He had left Satara for politics in Thane, the main stronghold of the Shiv Sena. In Maharashtra, Shinde says that the politics of Hindutva should be learned from Balasaheb. He also said that he can never betray the politics of Hindutva.
At first he said that 10 Shiv Sena MLAs are with him, then the number increased to 21 and from Gujarat to Guwahati, Eknath Shinde claimed that he had the support of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs. One third of the team is in his favor. Meanwhile, sources said that he had spoken to Uddhav Thackeray over phone. He has offered Uddhav to leave the Congress and the NCP and join hands with the BJP. But Uddhav did not agree.
Before joining Shiv Sena, Shinde used to drive autos for a long time. He also started the worker’s union of the party. Then Eknath Shinde did not look back. In 1997, he won the municipal election. Their two children Dipesh and Shubhada both died due to drowning. After recovering from this sad day, he became the leader of the corporation in 2001. He has been given important responsibility in Thane.
He also won the 2004 assembly elections. He took up the challenge for the first time in 2005. And so they succeeded. Since then Shiv Sena has become very dependent on Shinde. Shinde’s situation worsened when Balasaheb Thackeray’s nephew Raj Thackeray left the party in 2006.