Who is Rajesh Shah, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader whose son was involved in Mumbai BMW accident?

Rajesh Shah, the deputy leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Palghar, was arrested on Sunday related to the hit-and-run case involving his son Mihir Shah in which a BMW killed a woman on a bike in Worli.

Rajesh is known to be a close aide of the Maharashtra CM and their proximity goes back beyond the 2022 Shiv Sena split, The Hindustan Times reported.

Shah is reportedly well-appreciated within the party for his 'management skills' as well as his networking among various communities in and around the Palghar area.

The Shinde faction leader reportedly belongs to a business family and wields a fair amount of control of the scrap business in the MIDC complex as well as industrial areas around Palghar. Shah also reportedly supplies construction materials.

Shah connected with Shinde who worked in and around Thane in the early 2000s. While the then-undivided Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had entrusted Shinde with the responsibility of taking care of party-related work in Thane and Palghar, Shinde turned to Shah.

An office bearer in Shiv Sena (UBT) told HT that there was a dispute between two groups in an industrial unit at one time, and a poster of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray was damaged during the ensuing altercation. While Shah was expected to raise his voice against it as the district chief of the party, he didn't do much and when local office bearers took it up with the party leadership, there was nothing much done by them either since Shah was 'Shinde's man,' the individual recounted.

Workers in both factions have spoken highly of Shah's management, negotiation skills, and financial power, the publication reported. The Shinde Sena leader has a house in Palghar's Kelve-Mahim area and another in Borivali. He is known for maintaining cordial relations with all in Palghar and would attend functions like Ram Navami, Ambedkar Jayanti, among others, helping local organisers, besides conducting meetings with local office bearers, community leaders, and organisations as part of the party's election management, as per the publication.

“In April 2023, CM Shinde appointed Kundan Sankhe as the district chief of the party in Palghar for organisational reasons. But he made Shah the deputy leader of Palghar to convey that he had not been sidelined,” a Shiv Sena office-bearer from Palghar told HT.

Mihir Shah, Rajesh's son who was involved in the accident, reportedly lived at the Borivali residence and was not much known in Palghar.

The leader noted that Mihir did visit Palghar sometimes, mainly due to work related to the family business. Though he was not too involved in political activities, Mihir spent time with his father, the leader told the publication.

Another leader said that Mihir was a 'young boy who loved a lavish lifestyle.'