'Gaddar, Puppet': How Eknath Shinde Proved His Critics Wrong in 2 Years

Eknath Shinde has not only proved his political astuteness but also that he won't be tossed around to irrelevance.

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(Photo: PTI)

Video Editor: Kriti Saxena

71% - that is the strike rate Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena recorded in this Maharashtra Assembly election.

23% - that is the strike rate of Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena.

There was one Shiv sena and one NCP each in the government and the Opposition this time. And if one looks at the results, the breakaway parties have trumped their predecessors massively, and Eknath Shinde has proved their critics wrong.

From being labelled a 'gaddar' to a 'puppet of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)', Shinde has not only proved his political astuteness but also that he is not someone to be tossed around to irrelevance.

Having proved his mettle as the people's chief minister, Shinde won 73% of the seats in which he was in a direct battle with Uddhav Thackeray.

Out of 51 seats in a direct Sena vs Sena battle, Shinde won 38 while Thackeray's Sena won 13. One seat was won by the Peasant's and Workers' Party of India (PWPI). Mumbai, which was tarditionally considered a Thackeray bastion, Shinde's Sena has won 5/11 seats in a direct battle.

How did Shinde manage to get the mandate he has in the Maharashtra Assembly? 4 reasons:

1. Tapping Into Sena MLAs' Discontent With Congress-NCP

First, tapping into the severe discontent in the Shiv Sena with the Congress-NCP in 2019. The most unusual alliance was formed in 2019 when Uddhav Thackeray broke ties with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress-NCP. The rising discomfort of Sena office bearers and MLAs and the alleged accessibility of Uddhav Thackeray was Shinde's gain that led to the rebellion.

2. Becoming the People's CM

The doors of Varsha, the official bungalow of the Maharashtra CM, were always open for the common man - this is a fact that many covering him and his politics will tell you. But what really put him on the pedestal was people-friendly schemes — the Laadki Bahin Yojana of direct Rs1,500 cash transfer into women's accounts, subsidised bus travel for women in MSRTC commute, schemes for free education for girl children till graduation, subsidised medical treatments at the chain of 'Aapla Davakhana' clinics,  scores of development projects in Mumbai and across the state — all these initiatives, even though may be credited to leaders or ministers of allies, happened under him at the helm. 

3. A Hard Bargainer

Despite clear attempts by the BJP, he proved his bargaining power not only when he became the CM with BJP's support in 2022, but also during seat sharing talks in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. Despite the NCP coming on board, he made sure that the Shiv Sena not only gets to contest the maximum number of seats, but also proved to have a better strike rate, including in the seats where he was in a direct fight with Uddhav thackeray's Shiv Sena.

4. Successfully Claimed Bal Thackeray's Hindutva Legacy

He successfully drove the narrative that Uddhav Thackeray compromised the Hindutva of late Bal Thackeray by joining hands with the Congress, a sentiment that was already being spoken of uncomfortably even by those who supported Thackeray in the split. With the entire BJP-Sena machinery at his disposal, he changed tides in his favour for the past two years.