Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sachin Ahir was elected unopposed as deputy chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council as the ruling Mahayuti's candidate on Wednesday, a day after quitting the Uddhav Thackeray-led party.
The Opposition, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), had fielded Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Jagannath Abhyankar for the post. However, following an appeal by Legislative Affairs Minister Chandrakant Patil, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Anil Parab said the Opposition was withdrawing Abhyankar's candidature.
Ahir on Tuesday filed his nomination for the post of deputy chairman as the candidate of the ruling Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, dealing a fresh blow to the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena (UBT).
The development came just a week after six rebel Lok Sabha MPs from Sena (UBT) joined the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, a key constituent of the ruling Mahayuti coalition, which also includes the BJP and the NCP.
Ahir, a close aide of Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, submitted his nomination as the Mahayuti candidate in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CMs Shinde and Sunetra Pawar on Tuesday.
In 2022, Ahir was elected to the Legislative Council and is due to retire in 2028. His exit from Sena (UBT) is being seen as a major blow to Aaditya Thackeray, the MLA from Worli in central Mumbai.
A nephew of underworld don-turned-politician Arun Gawli, Ahir was a three-time MLA of the undivided NCP and also served as a minister when the Congress-NCP alliance was in power between 1999 and 2014. He also served as the Mumbai city chief of the undivided NCP. Ahir lost to the undivided Shiv Sena's Sunil Shinde in the 2014 assembly election.
Ahead of Aaditya Thackeray's successful electoral debut in the 2019 assembly election, Ahir joined the undivided Shiv Sena. Since then, Ahir had become one of Aaditya's close aides and was entrusted with several organisational responsibilities, including overseeing the party's trade union.
(With inputs from PTI)
