Mumbai | Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Sachin Ahir was elected unopposed to the post of deputy chairman of the Maharashtra legislative council as a candidate of the ruling Mahayuti on Wednesday.
Opposition alliance -- Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) -- had fielded Jagannath Abhyankar of the Shiv Sena (UBT) for the post.
However, on the appeal of 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 election to the post of deputy chairman as the candidate of the ruling Shiv Sena led by Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, giving a fresh jolt to the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT). The move came as a surprise even for leaders within the Shiv Sena.
The development came just a week after six rebel Lok Sabha MPs of the Sena (UBT) joined the Shinde-headed outfit, a key constituent of the ruling coalition Mahayuti, which also consists of the BJP and the NCP.
Following his election to the post, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis moved a motion in the House congratulating Ahir, and recalled that he and Ahir became MLAs for the first time in 1999.
Eknath Shinde said that after Neelam Gorhe, Ahir is the second Shiv Sainik to hold the post of council deputy chairperson.
Gorhe, who served as the deputy chairperson for seven years, said she was happy about Shinde's choice to nominate Ahir to the post.
In his response, Ahir said even if political equations have changed, the bond with common man, labourer and Maharashtra will remain forever.
Taking a dig at Gorhe, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab said Ahir's nomination has run a bulldozer over several people's dream.
Meanwhile, police personnel have been deployed outside Ahir's residence at the Goolrukh building in Worli, an official said on Wednesday.
Supporters have started visiting Ahir after his Tuesday's move (of filing nomination), necessitating the presence of police outside his residence, the official added.
Ahir, a close aide of Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, submitted his nomination as the Mahayuti candidate on Tuesday. His virtual exit from the Sena (UBT) is being seen as a massive 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 undivided NCP and also served as a minister when the Congress-NCP alliance was in power from 1999-2014.
He also served as Mumbai city chief of the undivided NCP. Ahir lost to undivided Shiv Sena candidate Sunil Shinde in the 2014 assembly polls.
Before Aaditya Thackeray contested and won his first assembly polls in 2019, Ahir joined the undivided Shiv Sena. Since then, Ahir became Aaditya Thackeray's close aide and was entrusted with several organisational responsibilities, including handling the trade union controlled by the party.
In 2022, Ahir was elected as a member of the legislative council, and he is due to retire in 2028.
