Eknath Shinde gets upper hand in fight for real Sena; stays strong CM contender

Mumbai: The Maharashtra assembly bypoll results have come as a jolt for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) faction. The UBT winning just 20 seats out of the 92 it contested, which is bound to raise questions and possibly more rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray's leadership of the Sena.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde has already said that the win showed that the Shiv Sena faction under him was the 'real' Shiv Sena. "We had formed the coalition with Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology. The people have now decided who the real Shiv Sena and NCP belong to," Shinde said at a press conference.

In the run up to the assembly polls, Uddhav Thackeray had made several personal remarks against BJP and Shiv Sena leaders including Devendra Fadnavis and Eknath Shinde. While Shinde gave it back in kind, the BJP did not slam Uddhav, probably keeping in mind that they might need him after the assembly polls in case they fell short of the numbers. However, the manner of BJP and Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction's victory means that it can compound problems for Uddhav.


"For us the next challenge is the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections. Whenever they would be held, both us and the BJP would go all out to come to power here. The Thackerays have used the cash-rich BMC to be relevant in the state even though they might not have power in the state. We would want to challenge that," said a leader of Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction.

Another leader from the party added that Uddhav would find it hard to stay relevant. "There are already two secular parties-the Congress and the NCP-SP (in Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance). Uddhav has also entered into the mix but neither is he getting the minority votes nor is he getting the Hindutva votes; his core voters have joined us," said the Sena leader.