Firebrand politician Eknath Shinde is known for his organisation skills, spot decisions and loyalty. Often in the midst of problems and important work, Shiv Sena President and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray would make calls to a few people and Shinde would surely be one of them.
Shinde is the Urban Development Minister in the tri-party government. Besides that, the daredevil politician is also the Guardian Minister of the Gadchiroli district.
But now, Shinde, the 58-year-old veteran has rebelled threatening the Maha Vikas Aghadi government as he moved to Gujarat’s trading town of Surat with a group of party MLAs. He is also in touch with Independents.
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Shinde hails from a Maratha family from Jawali in the Satara district. The Sena leader's beginnings have been humble -- he was running a small transport business. He moved to Mumbai’s neighbouring district of Thane and stayed in the Wagle Estate area.
While doing odd jobs early in his career, he came under the influence of late Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and Shiv Sena’s Thane-belt strongman Anand Dighe.
Shinde was loyal to Dighe, who was known as “the Balasaheb Thackeray” of the Palghar-Thane-Raigad belt.
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Dighe (January 27, 1951 - August 26, 2001) was one of those closest to the late Balasaheb. The leader used to sport a long beard and saffron tilak, was known for his simplicity, loyalty and honesty and was a grassroots man who was available all the time.
Shinde had imbibed the same from his late guru -- and followed him to the hilt. The film 'Dharmaveer', on the life of Dighe which was recently released, shows Shinde's relationship with his guru.
Eknath is also a three-term MLA from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of the Thane district. His son, Dr Shrikant Shinde, is a two-term MP from the Kalyan seat of the district.
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In 2014, when the Shiv Sena initially chose not to join the government, Shinde was briefly the Leader of the Opposition. On joining the government, he was given the portfolio of the Public Works Department, looking after Public Undertakings and Maharashtra Road Development Corporation. He also held the charge of the Public Health and Family Welfare portfolio.
In fact, he is executing the Mumbai-Nagpur super communication highway or Samruddhi Corridor, the dream project of Fadnavis. He is also overseeing the expansion of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
When the government assumed charge, Shinde got the portfolio of the Urban Development Department and fast-tracked several pending projects.
When the MVA was stitched together which kept BJP out of power, Shinde played an important role in it.