Who is Eknath Shinde?

According to party sources, the final straw for Eknath Shinde might have been the Shiv Sena's decision to override his suggestion that the party contest the Thane Municipal Corporation polls alone.

From working in a beer brewery in Thane and driving an autorickshaw to make ends meet, to becoming the most powerful leader in the present Shiv Sena after the Thackerays, Eknath Shinde, 58, looked set on Tuesday to join the ranks of leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal and Narayan Rane who had earlier managed to engineer a split in the Sena.

Worryingly for the Thackerays, Shinde has the loyalty of many party MLAs for being accessible to MLAs – especially when an appointment at Matoshree can be tough – and being generous with economic largesse.

The Shinde family originally belongs to Satara district and moved to Thane in the ’70s when Shinde was just a child. His start was with odd jobs, at places such as a beer brewery and fishery, apart from his stint as an autorickshaw driver, before he began his association with the Shiv Sena in the ’80s.

Shinde soon gained proximity to then Thane district Sena president Anand Dighe, who ran the local unit with an iron fist and was instrumental in making the Shiv Sena a dominant force in the area. As Shinde modelled his appearance too after his mentor, Dighe had rewarded his loyalty with helping him win a seat in the Thane Municipal Corporation in 1997.

Dighe was also there for Shinde when he lost his children to a drowning accident in 2000, which caused him to withdraw into a shell. Dighe is said to have goaded Shinde back, making him the leader of the house in the Thane Municipal Corporation.

https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/who-is-eknath-shinde-maharashtra-shiv-sena-thackeray-mva-7981562/


Post ID: 3ba05ddb-c411-456f-b4ff-7a9f8a3fdf3d
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Updated: 1 year ago
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