Thackeray camp star to Eknath Shinde's edge? The rise of Sachin Ahir
Ahir's defection and nomination as deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra legislative council is the latest in a series of setbacks to the Shiv Sena (UBT)
This comes close on the heels of six of the nine Lok Sabha MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) defecting to Shinde’s Sena and rumours doing the rounds of another split in the Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party as well as in the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). The developments have created a flutter in the Opposition camp in Maharashtra.
Ahir, the nephew of underworld don Arun Gawli, entered politics through labour unionism. As general secretary of the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS), the official union of the textile mill workers in Mumbai, he and brother Vijay also worked as bodyguards for Sunit Khatau, the textile mill owner who was gunned down by members of the rival Amar Naik gang.
From the Congress, Ahir switched over to the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and was elected to the legislative assembly from Shivdi in 1999, and again in 2004. In 2009, he was elected from Worli and became a minister in the Congress-NCP government. However, Ahir was trounced by Sunil Shinde of the Shiv Sena in the 2014 polls.
In 2019, when Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray decided to plunge into electoral politics from Worli, Ahir was wooed into the Shiv Sena to do away with the prospect of a potential challenger. Subsequently, after the Shiv Sena joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, Ahir was seen as part of Aaditya’s inner circle, leading to resentment among Sena old-timers in Worli.
Ahir was also appointed as deputy leader of the Shiv Sena and one of its spokespersons. After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections this year, his brother Sunil was nominated as a non-councillor member of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST).
Back in June 2022, Ahir was fielded for the legislative council polls by the party. He and the Shiv Sena’s Amshya Padvi won by a sliver in an election that saw massive horse-trading and the defeat of former minister Chandrakant Handore of the Congress. It all marked the launch of Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav and the fall of the MVA government in the state.
Incidentally, as insiders noted, Ahir, who was the Pune district communications in-charge of the Sena (UBT) and general secretary of the party’s labour union wing Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), had borne the brunt of the cross-voting.
Ahir’s defection now marks yet another setback for Uddhav’s party. There are rumours that Shinde, who aspires to return as Maharashtra chief minister, may engineer a split in the Sena (UBT)’s legislature wing in the state to bolster his numbers. Before the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2024, Shinde had gone on an overdrive to wean away corporators and functionaries from the Uddhav camp in Worli.
Worli is a predominantly Maharashtrian constituency, with around 65 per cent Marathi voters. But the number of non-Marathi and cosmopolitan voters has been gradually rising. In 2019, when Aaditya decided to contest from Worli, posters in Gujarati with the tagline ‘Kem Cho Worli’ were put up in the constituency, followed by other multilingual campaign material.
During the campaign, Aaditya even appeared in South Indian attire—lungi and angavastram—with an eye on South Indian voters. Worli has pockets of Telugu speakers, who settled in Mumbai during the colonial era and have assimilated into the local culture. Ahir’s switch to the Shinde camp has raised speculation about whether he will be the ruling coalition’s nominee against Aaditya in the 2029 assembly elections.
Notably, in 1951, Pandit Bhagirath Jha of the Socialist Party, the first North Indian MLA in the erstwhile Bombay legislative assembly, was elected from the Chinchpokali-Lower Parel-Love Grove constituency, which includes part of the present-day Worli assembly segment.
In the 2024 polls, Aaditya could squeeze through from the seat by a margin of just over 8,800 votes against former Union minister and Shinde Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora. Sena (UBT) cadre pointed to how this reflected the stress within the party in Worli. In the constituency, the party had become top-heavy with the presence of leaders like Aaditya, Ahir, MLC Sunil Shinde, former mayor Kishori Pednekar and Ashish Chemburkar, thus offering little opportunity for lower-level and middle-rung functionaries to grow. Worli also became perhaps the only assembly segment with three legislators from a party—Aaditya as MLA and Ahir and Shinde as MLCs.
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This comes close on the heels of six of the nine Lok Sabha MPs from the Shiv Sena (UBT) defecting to Shinde’s Sena and rumours doing the rounds of another split in the Shiv Sena (UBT) legislature party as well as in the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar). The developments have created a flutter in the Opposition camp in Maharashtra.
Ahir, the nephew of underworld don Arun Gawli, entered politics through labour unionism. As general secretary of the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh (RMMS), the official union of the textile mill workers in Mumbai, he and brother Vijay also worked as bodyguards for Sunit Khatau, the textile mill owner who was gunned down by members of the rival Amar Naik gang.
From the Congress, Ahir switched over to the undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and was elected to the legislative assembly from Shivdi in 1999, and again in 2004. In 2009, he was elected from Worli and became a minister in the Congress-NCP government. However, Ahir was trounced by Sunil Shinde of the Shiv Sena in the 2014 polls.
In 2019, when Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya Thackeray decided to plunge into electoral politics from Worli, Ahir was wooed into the Shiv Sena to do away with the prospect of a potential challenger. Subsequently, after the Shiv Sena joined hands with the Congress and NCP to form the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition, Ahir was seen as part of Aaditya’s inner circle, leading to resentment among Sena old-timers in Worli.
Ahir was also appointed as deputy leader of the Shiv Sena and one of its spokespersons. After the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections this year, his brother Sunil was nominated as a non-councillor member of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST).
Back in June 2022, Ahir was fielded for the legislative council polls by the party. He and the Shiv Sena’s Amshya Padvi won by a sliver in an election that saw massive horse-trading and the defeat of former minister Chandrakant Handore of the Congress. It all marked the launch of Shinde’s rebellion against Uddhav and the fall of the MVA government in the state.
Incidentally, as insiders noted, Ahir, who was the Pune district communications in-charge of the Sena (UBT) and general secretary of the party’s labour union wing Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (BKS), had borne the brunt of the cross-voting.
Ahir’s defection now marks yet another setback for Uddhav’s party. There are rumours that Shinde, who aspires to return as Maharashtra chief minister, may engineer a split in the Sena (UBT)’s legislature wing in the state to bolster his numbers. Before the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in 2024, Shinde had gone on an overdrive to wean away corporators and functionaries from the Uddhav camp in Worli.
Worli is a predominantly Maharashtrian constituency, with around 65 per cent Marathi voters. But the number of non-Marathi and cosmopolitan voters has been gradually rising. In 2019, when Aaditya decided to contest from Worli, posters in Gujarati with the tagline ‘Kem Cho Worli’ were put up in the constituency, followed by other multilingual campaign material.
During the campaign, Aaditya even appeared in South Indian attire—lungi and angavastram—with an eye on South Indian voters. Worli has pockets of Telugu speakers, who settled in Mumbai during the colonial era and have assimilated into the local culture. Ahir’s switch to the Shinde camp has raised speculation about whether he will be the ruling coalition’s nominee against Aaditya in the 2029 assembly elections.
Notably, in 1951, Pandit Bhagirath Jha of the Socialist Party, the first North Indian MLA in the erstwhile Bombay legislative assembly, was elected from the Chinchpokali-Lower Parel-Love Grove constituency, which includes part of the present-day Worli assembly segment.
In the 2024 polls, Aaditya could squeeze through from the seat by a margin of just over 8,800 votes against former Union minister and Shinde Sena Rajya Sabha MP Milind Deora. Sena (UBT) cadre pointed to how this reflected the stress within the party in Worli. In the constituency, the party had become top-heavy with the presence of leaders like Aaditya, Ahir, MLC Sunil Shinde, former mayor Kishori Pednekar and Ashish Chemburkar, thus offering little opportunity for lower-level and middle-rung functionaries to grow. Worli also became perhaps the only assembly segment with three legislators from a party—Aaditya as MLA and Ahir and Shinde as MLCs.
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