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Wednesday, July 22, 2026
TopicEknath Shinde

Topic: Eknath Shinde

Eknath Shinde was the united Shiv Sena’s most senior leader in Thane, a satellite city of Mumbai and a stronghold of the party. The Shiv Sena, launched by Bal Thackeray in 1966, split in 2022 when Eknath Shinde led a rebellion to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. The new faction then formed a government with the BJP, with Shinde as CM. The new party — Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) — now claims to be the real Shiv Sena.

Shinde was brought up in Thane, which continues to be his stronghold. In his early years in the party, he was influenced by Anand Dhige, a prominent Shiv Sena leader in the area. A Shiv Sainik who headed a shakha back in 1980s, Shinde became a corporator in the Thane Municipal Corporation before becoming an MLA in 2004. He has been a member of the assembly for four terms now. In 2019, in the Uddhav Thackeray government, he worked as Minister of Urban Development and Public Works and Minister of Home Affairs (Acting).

5 chartered flights took off in dead of the night, all headed to Delhi. Inside Shinde’s Operation Tiger

+TFP Purva Chitnis -
Preparations for the split began over a year ago, but Operation Tiger culminated this week when six MPs from Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena UBT joined Eknath Shinde's party.

Raj, Bhujbal, Narayan Rane: How many times has Shiv Sena split & what happened to those rebels

Purva Chitnis -
Bal Thackeray's party has suffered multiple rebellions, most damaging of which came in 2022 when Eknath Shinde led a revolt, triggering fall of Uddhav govt & becoming CM himself.

Shinde-engineered ‘Op Tiger’ isn’t just about tussle with Uddhav. It’s a fight on two fronts

Purva Chitnis -
For the past year and a half, the Shinde-led Sena has been trying to approach Sena (UBT) MPs. ‘Operation Tiger’ picked up pace after the split in the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

Shiv Sena (UBT) split buzz gets louder as 6 of its 9 Lok Sabha MPs skip party meet

Purva Chitnis -
Coming amid speculation that the MPs had decided to join the rival Eknath Shinde faction, the meeting was called by party’s chief whip Anil Desai, mandating all MPs to attend.

Maharashtra MLC polls once again expose Mahayuti cracks, push leaders into damage control mode

Manasi Phadke -
The day started with a long list of Mahayuti rebels in the fray, with some of these being children of party leaders wanting to establish political careers. 

MLC polls: Mahayuti seat-sharing talks hit a wall—Shinde digs in, BJP refuses to budge, NCP firm on Pune

Purva Chitnis -
Nashik, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Pune have emerged as key flashpoints. BJP has staked claim on all three, two of which are currently held by Shiv Sena factions and one by NCP.

Connectivity bonanza for Mumbai & satellite towns: 1st Metro link to Thane, pod taxi project in motion

Purva Chitnis -
We are working towards 59-minute Mumbai commute limit, says CM; new tunnel boring machine and first-ever pod taxi also inaugurated.

Who is Ashok Kharat—sailor-turned-‘godman’ once revered by Mahayuti politicians, now named in rape case

Kasturi Walimbe -
‘Captain Kharat’ built access to Maharashtra’s political elite until his arrest. State forms SIT to probe case; women’s commission chief faces conflict-of-interest questions.

Rs 47,000 cr push for Mumbai infra as MMRDA tables first surplus budget in nearly a decade

Kasturi Walimbe -
With focus on big-ticket infra projects including Metro rail and tunnels, the MMRDA budget also laid emphasis on decongestion under ‘Mumbai 3.0’ vision.

Beyond Mumbai-Thane region, Shinde-led Shiv Sena’s influence wanes as ally BJP gains ground

Purva Chitnis -
Nepotism, absent leadership and cadre erosion see Shinde's Sena reduced to MMR in municipal polls while BJP captures urban Maharashtra with superior organisation and funds.
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