Sachin Ahir was elected the deputy chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday, a day after he quit the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena for the faction led by Eknath Shinde.
Ahir was elected to the post unanimously after Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate JM Abhyankar withdrew his nomination, the request for which was made by parliamentary affairs minister Chandrakant Patil. It is not yet clear why the MVA candidate withdrew nomination for the election.
In a double whammy for the Uddhav Sena in Maharashtra, Sachin Ahir left the camp and joined hands with the Eknath Shinde-led Sena on Tuesday, and filed his nomination for the post he got elected to today. The development came when the Uddhav Sena was already trying to manage a crisis triggered by six of its MPs joining the rival Shinde camp.
Who is Sachin Ahir?
Sachin Ahir is a former MLA from Worli and was considered a close confidante of Aaditya Thackeray, which is why his exit from the party came as a shock to many. After his debut stint with the Congress, Ahir eventually moved to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and later joined the undivided Shiv Sena.
{{/usCountry}}Sachin Ahir is a former MLA from Worli and was considered a close confidante of Aaditya Thackeray, which is why his exit from the party came as a shock to many. After his debut stint with the Congress, Ahir eventually moved to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and later joined the undivided Shiv Sena.
{{/usCountry}}He is now part of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena which was formed following a rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in 2022. The same year, Ahir was elected as a member of the legislative council.
According to news agency PTI, police personnel were deployed outside his home this morning following the switch, and several supporters visited him.
Uddhav Sena's ‘political hunger’ charge
After Ahir's exit, the UBT Sena took a dig at the leader, slamming his “political hunger” and lack of integrity. “There is something called integrity in politics and personal life. He (Sachin Ahir) has been a very special person to Aaditya Thackeray... But political hunger has grown so much that integrity and loyalty have no value left...,” Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday.
Raut also called for introspection within the Uddhav Sena and urged for efforts to assess if a select few are “given too much” and end up unexpectedly deserting the party for political gains.
“We need to identify the character of person. Some get too much and it hurts party loyalists,” Raut said. His remarks echoed sentiments expressed by UBT Sena's Sunil Shinde a day before.
Raut also took a dig at Eknath Shinde, saying his political career was built on Uddhav Sena's shoulders, and now him and his son Shrikant Shinde are “teaching” things. “If Uddhav Thackeray had not given everything posts, power to Eknath Shinde where he would be? He became what he is today because he received all those things in the party from leadership,” Raut said.
Sachin Ahir's exit was also a brutal shock for the party as it was already dealing with the defection of six MPs to Shinde Sena, a move that strengthened the NDA's Parliament tally.