How Eknath Shinde's star rose in Maharashtra politics

A look at the two main factors behind the success of the man from Thane who once drove an autorickshaw

- Rajdeep Sardesai

The template for political immunity from prosecution was set a year earlier, in June 2022, when the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) government in Maharashtra was toppled after a dramatic coup staged by Eknath Shinde, a close aide of the Shiv Sena chieftain. An energetic political go-getter, seen sporting a flaming red tilak on his forehead and a well-trimmed beard, the short-statured Shinde, a senior minister in the MVA government, was eyeing the chief minister's chair while Uddhav Thackeray was convalescing in hospital after spinal surgery in December 2021.

"I am doing all the hard work for the party and the government, but the credit is going entirely to Uddhav ji and now to his son Aaditya. Why should I work under a kid like Aaditya?" a frustrated Shinde complained to a party colleague. Matters came to a head when the party's Thane strongman was reportedly kept waiting in an anteroom for more than an hour at Varsha, the chief minister's official residence, only to be told that Uddhav ji was unwell but he could meet Aaditya or Thackeray's wife, Rashmi, instead. "That was the day I decided enough is enough, I will not compromise my self-respect any further," claimed Shinde.

"What absolute rubbish!" countered Sanjay Raut, MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson. "Uddhav ji gave Shinde ji a free hand in running his ministry and the party in Thane; he trusted him completely. There was no interference."

According to Raut, Shinde's rebellion was triggered by a discreet ED inquiry into two of his associates, including a prominent builder. "He was worried that the inquiry would soon reach his doorstep, and he feared he would be sent to jail," asserted Raut. If the Uddhav camp is to be believed, a month before he quit the party, a tearful Shinde had pleaded with the Sena leadership to ally with the BJP, else he would be arrested. "I am a grandfather now; I don't want to be jailed," he had cried.