Days after the defection of six MPs, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) received another jolt on Tuesday as party MLC and close aide of Aaditya Thackeray, Sachin Ahir, defected to the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. Shinde also fielded him as Mahayuti candidate for the election of deputy chairperson of state legislative.
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Ahir, a legislator and a trade union leader, joined the Shiv Sena at the party office in presence of Shinde.
On Tuesday morning, he filled the form for the election of deputy chairman of the legislative council in the presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and deputy chief ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
Addressing a press conference, Shinde said that he welcomed MLC Sachin Ahir. He said that Ahir worked for bhoomiputra and mill workers. Asked if anti-defection law would apply in case of Ahir, Shinde said Ahir was elected to the upper house of state legislature as a Shiv Sena member in 2022 and technically it is the same party.
Ahir is a two-time MLA from Worli constituency, which is represented by Aaditya now. Ahir crossing over to Sena means that the younger Thackeray may face a tough battle in the next assembly election. Ahir started his career in Congress and later went to NCP. He was MLA of Worli and worked as minister of state for housing. He was defeated in the 2014 polls by Sena’s Sunil Shinde.
In 2019, Ahir joined the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena because Aaditya wanted a safe win from Worli. As a reward, he was made a member of the legislative council. The BJP was also eyeing him as they wanted a strong candidate against Aaditya Thackeray in the 2029 assembly polls, but Ahir decided to join the Sena
Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Anil Parab said, “As it is, we didn’t have enough votes for the deputy chairman post. Now we have to face the situation and the party will take action.”
In his resignation letter, Ahir announced that he was stepping down from his posts in Bharatiya Kamgar Sena and from his positions associated with Shiv Sena (UBT). Ahir expressed gratitude for the trust showed by the party leadership in him and for giving him opportunities . “Due to unavoidable reasons I am resigning from the posts”.
