Mumbai: Maharashtra is witnessing a huge political mercury. As soon as the results of the MLC elections came out, about two dozen MLAs supporting the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra government have suddenly disappeared. All these MLAs are said to have reached Gujarat along with Eknath Shinde, a minister in the Maharashtra government and an old Shiv Sainik. Here in Surat, they are kept amidst high security. In such a situation, let us tell you who is Eknath Shinde who gave a jolt to Uddhav Thackeray? Who among the MLAs who have accompanied him to Gujarat and what will happen next in Maharashtra's politics now? 

On Monday, elections were held on 10 seats of the MLC. There were 11 candidates in the fray. Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) means the alliance of Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP had fielded six candidates, while the BJP had fielded five candidates. Interestingly, the Shiv Sena alliance had enough strength to win all the six candidates, but it lost one seat. In these five, the Congress got only one seat and the NCP-Shiv Sena got two seats each. At the same time, the BJP had only 4 seats to win, but the party managed to get the 5th seat as well. In such a situation, it is clear that there has been large-scale cross voting in the MLC election. Along with this, independents have also supported the BJP. Each candidate needed 27 votes to win. Congress Dalit face and former minister Chandrakant Handore lost the election. Lad and Jagtap were declared elected after the counting of preferential votes, while Handore lost. After the results came, it became clear that there was a lot of cross voting in the MLC election. It is also being told that all these MLAs were unhappy with the Uddhav government. That is why all of them supported Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Eknath Shinde and gave a jolt to the Shiv Sena alliance. All of them have reached Gujarat. Among the MLAs who have accompanied Eknath Shinde to Gujarat are two Ministers of the Maharashtra government. The name of an independent MLA is also coming up.  

Which MLA has become a rebel? 
According to media reports, among those who took a rebellious stand with Eknath Shinde are Tanaji Sawant, Balaji Kalyankar, Prakash Anandrao Abitkar, Abdul Sattar, Sanjay Panduranga, Srinivas Vanga, Mahesh Shinde, Sanjay Raimulkar, Vishwanath Bhoer, Sandeepan Rao Bhumre, Shantaram More, Ramesh Bornare, Anil Babar, Chimmanrao Patil, Shambhuraj Desai, Mahendra Dalvi, Shahaji Patil, Pradeep Jaiswal, Mahendra Thorve, Kishore Patil, Gyanraj Chougule, Balaji Kinikar, Bharatshet Gogawale, Sanjay Gaikwad, Suhas Kande are among those who are present. Among them, Abdul Sattar and Shambhuraj Desai are ministers. Apart from this, the MP son of Eknath Shinde, Dr. Shrikant Shinde has also reached Gujarat along with the MLAs. Srikant is an MP from Shiv Sena.

Who is Eknath Shinde who gave a jolt to Shiv Sena? 
Born on February 9, 1964 in Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde hails from the hill jawali taluka of Satara district and belongs to the Marathi community. Eknath Shinde studied in Thane till class 11 and then stayed in Wagle Estate area and started driving an auto rickshaw. Eknath Shinde joined the Shiv Sena in the eighties and started his political journey as a common party worker. Eknath Shinde is the Urban Development Minister of the present Government of Maharashtra. Eknath Shinde was associated with the Shiv Sena from the very beginning. In the last elections, he had won from Pachpakhadi assembly seat in Thane. He has won the election four times in a row. He was first elected in 2004, then in 2009, 2014 and 2019. Eknath Shinde was considered close to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Shinde was at the forefront of the RACE for CM from the Shiv Sena in 2019. However, he was on the backfoot after Uddhav Thackeray's name came up.  

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