Sachin Ahir was elected as Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Wednesday, a day after he resigned from the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in favor of the Eknath Shinde-led faction.
Ahir was elected to the post unanimously after Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) candidate JM Abhyankar withdrew his nomination, a demand made by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil. It is not yet clear why the MVA candidate withdrew his candidacy for the elections.
In a double blow to the Uddhav Sena in Maharashtra, Sachin Ahir left the camp and joined the Eknath Shinde-led Sena on Tuesday, filing his nomination for the post to which he was elected today. This development came when the Uddhav Sena was already trying to manage the crisis triggered by the joining of six of its MPs to the rival Shinde camp.
Who is Sachin Ahir?
Sachin Ahir is a former MLA from Worli and was considered a close confidant of Aaditya Thackeray, which is why his exit from the party came as a shock to many. After his first stint with the Congress Party, Ahir eventually moved to the NCP, and later joined the united Shiv Sena party.
It is now part of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena which was formed after a rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in 2022. In the same year, Ahir was elected to the legislative council.
According to news agency PTI, police personnel were deployed outside his house this morning after the switch, and several supporters visited him.
Charge of “political hunger” by Uddhav Sena
After Ahir’s exit, the UBT Sena slammed the leader, slamming his “political hunger” and lack of integrity. “There is something called integrity in politics and personal life. He (Sachin Ahir) was a very special person for Aaditya Thackeray…but political hunger has increased so much that integrity and loyalty no longer have any value…” Sanjay Raut said on Wednesday.
Raut also called for scrutiny within the Uddhav Sena and urged efforts to assess whether a select few were “given too much” and end up leaving the party unexpectedly for political gain.
“We need to identify a person’s character. Some get so much that it hurts party loyalists,” Raut said. His remarks echoed sentiments expressed by UBT Sena’s Sunil Shinde a day earlier.
Raut also criticized Eknath Shinde, saying that his political career was built on the shoulders of Uddhav Sena, and now he and his son Shrikanth Shinde are “teaching” things. “If Uddhav Thackeray had not given everything in office, where would Eknath Shinde’s power be? He has become what he is today because he received all those things in the party from the leadership,” Raut said.
Sachin Ahir’s exit also came as a harsh shock to the party as it was already dealing with the defection of six MPs to the Shinde Sena, a move that strengthened the NDA’s credit in Parliament.
