Eknath Shinde is an Indian politician who became the 20th Chief Minister of Maharashtra on 30 June 2022 after he rebelled from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.Dr Shrikant Shinde, the son of Eknath Shinde, was elected as a Member of Parliament to the Lok Sabha from the Kalyan constituency in 2014. He defeated the NCPs candidate Anand Paranjape. Dr Shrikant Shinde is an orthopaedic surgeon.He quit his school education and started driving an autorickshaw to earn a livelihood for his family. When he was doing odd jobs in his career, in the 1980s, he came into the contact with Shivsena supremo Bal Thackeray and Shivsenas Thane District Chief Anand Dighe, who assisted him to join Shivsena. [5]Hindi Asia Net Eknath Shinde with Anand Dighe Eknath Shinde with Balasaheb Thackeray.In 2014, he resumed his studies after becoming a minister in the BJP-Shivsena government and earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Marathi and Politics subjects with distinction from Vashvantrao Chavan Open University, Maharashtra. A Young Eknath Shinde.In the 1970s and 80s, Eknath Shinde was influenced by Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray and the workings of the then Thane district president Shri Anand Dighe. In 1980, he was appointed as the Shakha Pramukh of Kisan Nagar soon after he joined Shiv Sena. Soon, he started participating in many political and social agitations initiated by his party including inflation, black marketing, hoarding of essential commodities such as palm oil by traders etc. In 1985, he participated in the Maharashtra-Karnataka Border agitation after which he was detained by the Maharashtra police in Bellary jail for over 40 days. Eknath Shinde as Shakha Pramukh of Kisan Nagar.In 1997, he contested the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) elections as a Corporater and won the elections. From 2001 to 2004, he served as a Leader of the house in TMC.Soon after the sudden death of the Thane district chief of Shiv Sena, Anand Dighe, in 2001, he was appointed at his place to save Shiv Sena in the district. He was appointed as the chief of the Thane district. Under his leadership and guidance, Shiv Sena came into power in the Thane Municipal Corporation, Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation, Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation, Bhiwandi Municipal Corporation, Ambernath Municipal Council, and Badlapur Municipal Council.On 2 June 2000, Eknath Shinde visited Satara along with his 11-year-old son Dipesh and 7-year-old daughter Shubhada. At Satara, while enjoying a boat ride, both of his children drowned accidentally and died on the spot. Eknath Shindes children Dipesh Shinde and Shubhada Shinde.In 2004, he contested the Assembly Elections from Thane Assembly Constituency and won the elections with a great margin of votes under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray. In the following year, he was appointed as the Thane District Head by Shiv Sena. Later, the subsequent assembly elections in 2009, 2014, and 2019 were won by him. He was appointed as the leader of the legislative party of Shiv Sena and the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly soon after the 2014 assembly elections. In January 2019, he was appointed as the Minister for Public Works Department (Public Undertakings) with the additional responsibility of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry.From 2004 to 2014, Shinde as a leader of the Opposition party continuously raised the state issues such as The Cluster Development scheme for dilapidated illegal buildings in Thane and MMR, Thane Metro, a New Extended Thane Station between Thane and Mulund, Water Scarcity, coastal security of the state, Modernization of the Police Force, Inflation, increasing debt of the State, etc. and often spotted delivering speeches on these topics in his political rallies.