From loyalist to rebel: The reasons for Eknath Shinde’s revolt against Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena’s plunged the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the state of Maharashtra into a political crisis on Tuesday by becoming ‘unreachable’ and was later located at Meridian hotel in Surat in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Gujarat.

As of today, the Sena leader and another 40 Shiv Sena MLAs are in Guwahati and are likely to stay at the Radisson hotel.

#WATCH | "A total of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs are present here. We will carry Balasaheb Thackeray's Hindutva," said Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde after arriving in Guwahati, Assam pic.twitter.com/YpSrGbJvdt

— ANI (@ANI) June 22, 2022

The MVA is now having to battle its worst crisis since coming into existence in 2019, putting a huge question mark on the stability of the two-and-a-half-year old government.

The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-Assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.

There is one vacancy due to the death of a Sena MLA last month. The current strength of the Assembly is 287. Fifteen independent legislators and MLAs from smaller parties support the MVA government, taking the number to 167.

The BJP has 106 MLAs of its own and is backed by one lawmaker each from the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, the Swabhimani Paksh, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, the Jan Surajya Party and six independents, taking its tally with allies to 116.

But, what exactly led to Shinde being unhappy? What’s the reason for his rebellion? We examine the reasons why the Maharashtra urban development and public works minister is angry with the Uddhav Thackeray-led party and government.

Sidelined from the Sena?

Shortly after going incommunicado, Shinde took to his social media handle to claim that he will continue to be a Bal Thackeray supporter and will never compromise with his principles for political gains.

आम्ही बाळासाहेबांचे कट्टर शिवसैनिक आहोत... बाळासाहेबांनी आम्हाला हिंदुत्वाची शिकवण दिली आहे.. बाळासाहेबांचे विचार आणि धर्मवीर आनंद दिघे साहेबांची शिकवण यांच्याबाबत आम्ही सत्तेसाठी कधीही प्रतारणा केली नाही आणि करणार नाही

— Eknath Shinde - एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 21, 2022

Shinde’s tweet seems to be a jibe at Uddhav Thackeray. There has been criticism against the Shiv Sena of moving away from its main plank of Hindutva. In a recent speech, Thackeray hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for compromising India’s stature in the aftermath of the international backlash against BJP’s Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal’s disparaging remarks against the Prophet. At the same time, he defined Shiv Sena’s Hindutva as an ideology that is respectful of all religions.

Another reason for the veteran leader’s unhappiness at the party is the way the party is being run and the treatment being meted out to old Sainiks like him.

The party has seen a generational change in its leadership, owing to which several of its senior leaders have been sidelined.

Indian Express citing a top official in the urban department said that Shinde was “upset” as he was marginalised. As its minister, he is the chairperson of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). However, the environment minister, Aaditya Thackeray, often attended the MMRDA meetings involving its commissioner, hence Shinde did not take much interest in its affairs.

Matters of security cover was another front where Shinde felt he had been pushed to the side. Shinde enjoyed “Z” category security. However, he was keen to get “Z plus” security cover being given to the likes of Uddhav and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Pawar. The decision not to accommodate his request had left him miffed.

Moreover, Shinde’s access to Matoshree, the residence of the Thackeray clan in Mumbai’s Bandra locality, has been restricted over the past two years — an indication of further strain between the leadership and the one-time loyalist.

There has also been repeated complaints that meeting with party chief and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has not become difficult, but almost impossible in recent times. A party leader was quoted as saying, “They don’t keep in touch. If there’s a problem, who can they tell? Shiv Sena is becoming a hanger of NCP. In a way, the work of chief minister is performed by Ajit Pawar and that of party chief is performed by Sanjay Raut.”

Unhappy with NCP alliance

Another reason for Shinde’s rebellion is the Sena’s decision to combine forces with the NCP. It has been reported that Shinde was especially upset with Uddav’s decision to join hands with the NCP and the Congress to form the MVA government.

Additionally, Shinde is of the opinion that the allies, especially NCP, has hurt the Sena’s future.

On Tuesday, at Surat airport, Shinde had said, “My and Sena MLAs wish is that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray should form a government in alliance with the BJP, I have not quit the party.”

When Uddhav reached out to Shinde in an attempt to placate the one-time loyalist, Shinde reportedly was firm on his condition that Shiv Sena must join the BJP and break the current alliance with NCP and Congress.

However, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit out at his sulking party colleague over the latest stand about an alliance with the BJP came out of nowhere today.

“Party MLAs Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak went to Surat to meet him. Shiv Sena is a party that does not work when conditions are put. The alliance of 25 years had to be cut off due to certain reasons. Everyone, including Eknath Shinde, is aware why the Shiv Sena split with the BJP,” said Raut as per a report in The Hindustan Times.

With inputs from agencies

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