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.
Also read: Police personnel deployed outside MLC Sachin Ahir's south Mumbai residence
Ahir on Tuesday filed nomination for the election to the post of deputy chairperson 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 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.
Ahir, a close aide of Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, submitted his nomination as the Mahayuti candidate in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Deputy Chief Ministers Shinde and Sunetra Pawar (NCP) 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.
