Eknath Shinde elected as Shiv Sena legislature leader

Veteran firebrand leader Eknath Shinde would be the Shiv Sena's leader of legislature party in Maharashtra while senior leader Sunil Prabhu would be the Chief Whip of Shiv Sena in Vidhan Sabha.

Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray's son Aditya proposed his name and it was agreed to unanimously.

Shinde (55), a three-term MLA from Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency of Thane, is trusted by Uddhav for his skills and is close to former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. His son, Dr Shrikant Shinde, is a two-term MP from Kalyan seat of the district.

Shinde started as a humble Shiv Sainik under the leadership of the legendary leader late Anant Dighe and came up from the ranks. Dighe was one of the closest aides of late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.

In 2014, when initially Shiv Sena chose not to join the government, Shinde was briefly the Leader of Opposition. On joining government, he was given the portfolio of Public Works Department looking after Public Undertakings and Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. Before becoming an MLA, he was a two-term corporator of Thane Municipal Corporation.

In fact, he is executing the Mumbai-Nagpur super communication highway or Samruddhi Corridor, the dream project of Fadnavis.