MUMBAI: MLC Sachin Ahir filed nomination for the post of deputy chairperson of the council, and Mahayuti, with its numbers, is expected to easily win the election which will be held on Wednesday.With Ahir leaving, Sena (UBT) is left with just 5 members in the council. Legislature officials said the nomination for the deputy chairperson’s poll is not filed through any party, so it would not attract the anti-defection law. Officials also said Ahir was elected as MLC of undivided Shiv Sena in 2022, so he could not be disqualified now. Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant called Ahir’s move a violation of Schedule 10. However, Ahir said despite joining Shinde Sena, “I have not left any party. I will explain the legal and technical aspects later.” Shinde too dismissed concerns over disqualification, saying Ahir was originally elected from the undivided Shiv Sena. “When Ahir became MLC, all of us voted for him. He contested on Shiv Sena’s bow-and-arrow symbol, which is now with us. So there is nothing to worry about,” Shinde said. A legislature official said, “Since Ahir is contesting for deputy chairperson, no party whip will apply to him.” Shinde said last week six (UBT Sena) MPs had come to the Sena “and hit sixes, and now Ahir has hit sixes”. Ahir filed his nomination in the presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis and Dy CMs Shinde and Sunetra Pawar.
MLC Says Will Explain Legal & Technical Aspects Later
Aaditya Thackeray said this is not ‘Operation Tiger’ but ‘Operation Devendra Fadnavis’. He added, “Ahir cannot even say Aaditya did not meet him. He is an MLC, his daughter was made ward committee member. He was also given the post of deputy leader. So what more do you want? Should we now perform your ‘aarti’ every day? Shiv Sena (UBT) does not care if someone leaves.” Ahir said he would respond at the right time to the barbs hurled at him from Sena (UBT). “As long as we were together, I was good. Some people are now trying to tell me how worthless I am.” Team UBT may lose claim to LoP’s postWith MLC Sachin Ahir’s exit, the Shiv Sena (UBT) is likely to lose its claim over the leader of opposition’s (LoP) post in the legislative council. The Sena (UBT) is left with only 5 MLCs now, and the Congress party too has 5 MLCs in the 78-member council.Political observers said it is unlikely that the council will get an LoP in the near future. The post in the council has been vacant since August 2025, when Shiv Sena (UBT)’s MLC Ambadas Danve retired. Danve has now been reelected to the council, but a decision on the LoP hasn’t been taken yet. The state is now without an LoP in both houses of the legislature. This has happened for the first time in several years, senior officials said.An LoP in the assembly hasn’t been appointed by Speaker Rahul Narwekar since Dec 2024, despite Sena (UBT) giving its MLA Bhaskar Jadhav’s name, citing technical reasons as Sena (UBT) doesn’t have MLAs comprising 10% of total strength of the assembly. Narwekar has maintained that rules are being studied to see if LoP’s post can be given if a party has less than 10% MLAs.Ahir may be formidable rival against Aaditya in Worli in ’29Sachin Ahir’s exit from Shiv Sena (UBT) has come as a setback for Aaditya Thackeray as Ahir could be a formidable candidate from the Worli assembly constituency and a potential political threat for Aaditya, who is MLA from that seat. Political observers said the Dy CM Eknath Shinde-led Sena would prepare the ground in Worli for the 2029 assembly polls and pitch Ahir against Aaditya. Ahir, a former MLA from Worli, is known to have a grassroots network there, and with the backing of Shinde Sena and BJP, he could pose a challenge to Aaditya. In the 2024 assembly polls, Aaditya managed to win from the Worli constituency by a margin of just 8,801 votes. This was a massive decrease in margin from the 2019 polls, when he had won by 67,427 votes. Aaditya defeated Sena’s Milind Deora in 2024. “In 2024, Deora was fielded at the last minute and he was not a local. Ahir knows the constituency well and is a Worli local. He also has clout in the mill workers’ and other unions in central Mumbai, so that will also work to his advantage,” a political observer said. In 2019, Ahir had joined Shiv Sena on the eve of the assembly elections. Aaditya then fought from Worli and eventually Ahir was given an MLC berth. Asked if he will fight the 2029 assembly polls from Worli, Ahir said on Tuesday, ”I will try to fulfil any responsibility Eknath Shinde will give me.”
