Shrikant Shinde to spearhead Sena’s statewide outreach drive with eye on polls

Shiv Sena launches a statewide outreach campaign to strengthen grassroots ahead of local elections, led by MP Shrikant Shinde across 22 districts.

MUMBAI: In a major organisational push ahead of the upcoming Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena is set to launch a large-scale statewide outreach campaign aimed at strengthening its grassroots network and addressing concerns of party workers across Maharashtra.

Shrikant Shinde to spearhead Sena’s statewide outreach drive with eye on polls

The initiative, titled the “Shiv Sena Karyakarta Samvad Tour”, will be spearheaded by MP Shrikant Shinde, who will travel across 22 districts and nearly 100 assembly constituencies between May 16 and July 15 in three phases. The tour will cover north Maharashtra, Vidarbha, parts of Marathwada, and the Thane-Palghar belt, regions where local body elections are expected in the coming months.

Party leaders said the programme is aimed at consolidating the organisation at the district and taluka levels while ensuring better coordination between the party structure and the state government. The exercise is also being viewed as a strategic attempt by the Shiv Sena to bolster its independent organisational strength amid growing political competition with alliance partner BJP in several districts.

As part of the campaign, local leadership will assess organisational preparedness, while performance reviews of frontal organisations such as the Mahila Aghadi and Yuva Sena will also be conducted at district and branch levels. Meetings will involve extensive interaction with party office-bearers, elected representatives and grassroots workers.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has simultaneously initiated a parallel organisational restructuring exercise by assigning responsibility for two districts each to ministers from the Shiv Sena quota in the state cabinet. Party insiders said the move is intended to tighten coordination and strengthen the party machinery ahead of crucial local elections.

Shrikant Shinde had earlier undertaken similar interaction programmes in Mumbai and Thane and had also toured districts including Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded and Solapur as part of the restructuring process.

Announcing the programme on Sunday, Shiv Sena secretary Bhausaheb Chaudhari said the two-month tour would enable direct dialogue between the party leadership and workers across Maharashtra.

“Shrikant Shinde will listen to all in each district. Recently he conducted such a tour and took necessary decisions regarding restructuring of the party. The outreach initiative is aimed at understanding issues faced by grassroots workers and further strengthening the organisation through coordinated support from the party and the government,” Chaudhari said.

He added that the dates and venues of the meetings would be communicated to district office-bearers in the coming days.

The outreach drive comes against the backdrop of recent friction between the BJP and Shiv Sena in Satara district over the Zilla Parishad president’s post, during which Shiv Sena minister Shambhuraj Desai alleged manhandling by police personnel. Sources said Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde viewed the incident seriously and accelerated efforts towards organisational expansion and restructuring to counter the BJP’s growing assertiveness in local politics.

In several recent civic and local body elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena contested separately despite being alliance partners in the state government. Political observers believe the possibility of the BJP going solo in some of its traditional strongholds during the forthcoming Zilla Parishad elections has prompted the Shiv Sena to intensify its grassroots mobilisation efforts.

According to party leaders, the meetings during the tour will be attended by current and former ministers, MPs, MLAs, corporators, Zilla Parishad members, Panchayat Samiti members, sarpanches and office-bearers of various party wings, including the Mahila Aghadi and Yuva Sena.

Tour schedule

Phase 1 (May 2026): Nashik, Dhule, Ahilya Nagar, Beed, Amravati and Akola

Phase 2 (June 2026): Jalgaon, Nandurbar, Yavatmal, Washim, Nanded, Hingoli, Wardha, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli

Phase 3 (July 2026): Buldhana, Jalna, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia, Thane and Palghar