Eknath Sambhaji Shinde (born 9 February 1964) is an Indian politician who has served as the

Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra The deputy chief minister of Maharashtra is the deputy head of the executive branch of the Government of Maharashtra and the second highest ranking minister of the Council of Ministers. List of deputy chief ministers Statistics List by de ...

since December 2024, alongside

Ajit Pawar Ajit Anantrao Pawar (Marathi pronunciation: �d͡ʒit̪ pəʋaːɾ born 22 July 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Eknath Shinde under Devendra Fadnavis since 5 December 2024. He is t ...

under Devendra Fadnavis. He is the chairperson of

Shiv Sena Shiv Sena (1966–2022) (; ; SS) was a right-wing Marathi regionalist Hindutva-based political party in India founded in 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who was later succeeded by Uddhav Thackeray. The party is split into two parties: the Uddha ...

since February 2023 and was the

Chief Minister of Maharashtra The chief minister of Maharashtra (IAST: Mahārāṣṭrāce Mukhyamaṃtrī) is the head of the executive branch of the government of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Following elections to the Legislative Assembly, the governor invites ...

from June 2022 to December 2024. He is also the

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

for the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of

Thane Thane (; previously known as Thana, List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city located on the northwestern side of the list of Indian states, state of Maharashtra in India and on ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, since 2009 and was formerly the MLA of Thane constituency from 2004 to 2009.

Early life

Eknath Shinde hails from 'Dare Tamb' village, Mahabaleshwar taluka in Satara, Maharashtra, and belongs to the

Maratha The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...

community. His family moved to

. He studied until 11th standard at Mangala High School & Junior College, Thane. Shinde left school to support his family financially and worked as an auto-rickshaw driver before joining politics. He later resumed his education after joining the

First Fadnavis ministry Devendra Fadnavis the leader of Bharatiya Janata Party was sworn in the Chief Minister of Maharashtra in October 2014. Here is the list of the ministers of his ministry. Shiv Sena joined the Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the ...

in 2014 and graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts degree A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University in 2020. Shinde was awarded an honorary D.Litt. (Doctor of Literature) by D.Y. Patil University at the convocation of the university in

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (; also known as New Bombay, its official name until 1995) is a large city next to Mumbai, located in the Konkan division of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is situated in Thane distr ...

on 28 March 2023, at the hands of Maharashtra governor

Ramesh Bais Ramesh Bais (born 2 August 1947) is an Indian politician and was the governor of Maharashtra from 2023 to 2024. He also served as the governor of Jharkhand from 2021 to 2023, and the governor of Tripura from 2019 to 2021. He is a member of ...

and university chancellor Vijay Patil.

Early political career

Entry into politics

Shinde was introduced to politics by then

President Anand Dighe in early 1980. Initially, he was leading the Shiv Sena agitation in the Wagle Estate. He became one of the prominent labour leader in the region. After recognition from Dighe, in 1984 he became a ''Sakha Pramukh'' in the Thane. In 1997, he was elected to the

Thane Municipal Corporation Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) is the governing body of the city of Thane in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The municipal corporation consisting of democratically elected members, is headed by a mayor and administers the city's infrastruct ...

as a corporator for the first time. Shinde became successor to Dighe's legacy after his death in 2001. Later in 2001 he was elected to the post of the Leader of the House of the Thane Municipal Corporation. In 2002 he was re-elected to the Thane Municipal Corporation for the second time.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly & ministries

He has been elected as

since 2004 for four consecutive terms. *

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

: Elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the first time * 2005 : Appointed as the Thane district head of Shiv Sena. First MLA to have been appointed at such a coveted post in the party *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

: Re-elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: Re-elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly October 2014 – December 2014: Leader of the Opposition in the

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (ISO: ''Mahārāṣṭra Vidhāna Sabhā'') is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. It consists of 288 members directly elected from single-seat constituenci ...

** 2014 – 2019: Cabinet Minister of PWD (PU) in Maharashtra State Government 2014 – 2019: Appointed as the guardian minister of

Thane District Thane district (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a districts of Maharashtra, district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the c ...

2018 : Appointed as a Leader of

Party 2019 : Cabinet Minister of Public Health and Family Welfare () in Maharashtra State Government *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

: Elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for the fourth consecutive time ** 2019 : Appointed as the minister of Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings) ** 2019 : Appointed as the Minister of Home Affairs (Acting) (28 November 2019 – 30 December 2019) * 2020 : Appointed as the guardian minister of

Thane district Thane district (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ʰaːɳe previously named Taana or Thana) is a districts of Maharashtra, district in the Konkan Division of Maharashtra, India. At the 2011 Census it was the most populated district in the c ...

* 2022 : Appointed as the

by the

Governor of Maharashtra The governor of Maharashtra is the ceremonial head of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The Constitution of India confers the executive powers of the state to the governor; however, the de facto executive powers lie with the Council of Minister ...

. * 2024: Re-elected to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 5 December 2024.

Role in 2022 Maharashtra political crisis

Shinde was in favour of breaking the

Maha Vikas Aghadi The Maha Vikas Aghadi (; abbreviated as MVA), is a state-level political alliance of Centrism, centre to Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is one of the two major political alliances in M ...

alliance and reestablishing an alliance with the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

. He requested

Uddhav Thackeray Uddhav Bal Thackeray (Marathi pronunciation: d̪ʱːəʋ ʈʰaːkɾeː born 27 July 1960) is an Indian politician who served as the 19th Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2019 to 2022 and the Leader of the House, Maharashtra Legislative Ass ...

to break the

alliance due to ideological differences. Few Shiv Sena members alleged that their complaints were ignored by

. Shinde was able to gather 2/3rd of members from his party to support his request. The

crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

began on 21 June 2022 when Shinde and several other

MLAs A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nationa ...

of the

(MVA) coalition moved to

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

in the BJP-governed

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

, throwing the coalition into a chaos. As a result of Shinde's revolt,

resigned from the post of

and said that he will also resign from the

Maharashtra Legislative Council The Maharashtra Legislative Council or Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of Maharashtra state in western India. Maharashtra Legislature Leaders Party Group Leader & Chief Whip and Whip Location Th ...

. Shinde successfully reestablished an alliance with the BJP and was sworn in as the 20th Chief minister, with

Devendra Fadnavis Devendra Gangadharrao Fadnavis (born 22 July 1970) is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra since 5 December 2024 with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar as his deputies, and previously held this positi ...

being sworn as the Deputy Chief Minister.

Leader of Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena leadership dispute

After Eknath Shinde established the government, he started using the Shiv Sena name and symbols without Uddhav Thackrey's permission. This created issues as Uddhav Thackeray also claimed to be the leader of

. Uddhav's faction challenged this in court, which was eventually moved to the Election Commission of India. The Commission recognized Eknath Shinde's faction as the real Shiv Sena party, which ended the leadership dispute. The Election Commission also found the changes made to the Shiv Sena party constitution in 2018, under the leadership of Uddhav Thackeray, to be undemocratic. The amendments centralized the party's control and were criticized for not allowing free, fair, and transparent elections for the party positions.

Political legitimacy

On 4 February 2024, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker

Rahul Narwekar Rahul Narwekar is an Indian politician and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is currently the MLA from the Colaba Assembly constituency and also the current Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Narwekar was elected to the M ...

ruled that Shinde's faction was the "real Shiv Sena" political party. This decision was a significant setback for the rival faction led by former Chief Minister

Electoral performance

Under Shinde's leadership, his faction of the Shiv Sena performed well in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party secured 7 seats, demonstrating a higher success rate compared to their alliance partner, the BJP, which won 9 seats in Maharashtra. This electoral success helped consolidate Shinde's position within the state's political landscape.

Chief Ministership (2022-2024)

On 30 June 2022, Eknath Shinde was sworn in as the 20th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, following a political crisis that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government. His appointment came after he led a rebellion within the Shiv Sena party, aligning with the BJP to form a new government.

Deputy Chief Ministership (2024 - present)

. He is deputy chief minister of maharashtra

Personal life

On 2 June 2000, their son (aged 11, born 1989) and daughter Shubhada (aged 8, born 1992) went boating in a lake near their native village in

. The boat overturned, and both children died by drowning. Shinde went into a period of depression for several months. Anand Dighe provided emotional support to Shinde and entrusted him with greater responsibility in order to keep his mind occupied and away from depression. Their surviving child, Shrikant Shinde, is an

orthopaedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

surgeon who has also been the elected Member of Parliament to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from the Kalyan constituency since 2014 (re-elected in 2019 and 2024).

Popular culture

'' Dharmaveer,'' a 2022 Indian Marathi-language biographical drama film by

Pravin Tarde Pravin Vitthal Tarde (born 11 November 1974) is an Indian actor, film director and screenwriter working in the Marathi Cinema best known for his Marathi films ''Deool Band'', ''Mulshi Pattern'', ''Sarsenapati Hambirrao''. Filmography Films ...

, covered Anand Dighe and Eknath Shinde's life. Kshitish Date played the role of Eknath Shinde. Eknath Shinde has a starring role in Dharmaveer as one of Dighe’s most loyal foot soldiers. In September 2024, sequel called '' Dharmaveer 2'' was launched in which Eknath Shinde played a last scene cameo before the end of the film.

Notes

References

External links

Shivsena Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinde, Eknath Maharashtra MLAs 2004–2009 Maharashtra MLAs 2009–2014 Maharashtra MLAs 2014–2019 People from Thane People from Satara district Shiv Sena politicians State cabinet ministers of Maharashtra Living people Marathi politicians Politics of Thane district 1964 births Chief ministers of Maharashtra Maharashtra MLAs 2019–2024 Leaders of the opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly