In a a massive setback for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government, Shiv Sena leader and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and 11 MLAs said to be loyal to him have reportedly moved to a hotel in Gujarat’s Surat, a day after a blow to the ruling Sena-NCP-Congress coalition in the MLC elections where the BJP won five seats, with Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party bagging two each. The latest political development, has sparked rumours of Shinde floating a new party.
A political veteran, Shinde holds a strong hold in Maharashtra politics. In 2004, Eknath Shinde was given an opportunity to contest the Assembly Elections from Thane Assembly Constituency by Balasaheb Thackeray and he won the same with handsome majority. In the very next year, in 2005, he was appointed at the coveted post of Shiv Sena Thane District Head. He was the first MLA from Shiv Sena to have been appointed The District Head as well. He emerged victorious in the subsequent assembly elections in 2009, 2014 and 2019. After 2014 elections, he was elected as the leader of legislative party of Shiv Sena and subsequently the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly. Within a month, as Shiv Sena decided to join the state government, he took oath as the minister for Public Works Department (Public Undertakings) and went on to take the additional responsibility of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry in January 2019. Shinde is reportedly miffed with the top brass after he was neglected in the functioning of the party and the government. Several media reports also said Shinde and his followers had complained about the step-motherly treatment by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in the allocation of funds.