<h5>What is the Shiv Sena?</h5>  <p>Shiv Sena is a right-wing Hindu nationalist political party based in Maharashtra. It was founded by Balasaheb Thackeray in 1966.
People from all over India came to work in Mumbai - India’s financial and entertainment capital. This irked Bal Thackeray, who felt that only Marathi people deserved these jobs. He founded Shiv Sena to fight for the rights of Marathis over migrants.
In the past fifty-six years, Shiv Sena has risen to become one of the most powerful political parties not just in Maharashtra but in India as a whole. Bal Thackeray has often been called the ‘Godfather of Maharashtra.’ Three people from Shiv Sena have become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra - Manohar Joshi, Narayan Rane, and Uddhav Thackeray, who is Bal Thackeray’s son and the current Chief Minister of Maharashtra.</p> <h5>Who is Eknath Shinde?</h5>  <p>Apart from the Thackerays, the next most powerful leader in the Shiv Sena is Eknath Shinde. He used to drive an auto-rickshaw to earn money. Then he became extremely inspired by Bal Thackeray and joined the Shiv Sena party in the 1980s.
Today, Shinde is a senior minister in Maharashtra and a four-time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Thane district. He is extremely popular within Shiv Sena, especially among members who have been unhappy with Uddhav Thackeray’s leadership for quite some time now.
</p> <h5>Why did Eknath Shinde become upset with Shiv Sena?</h5>  <p>Shiv Sena is currently facing its worst political crisis ever because of the way it handled things with Eknath Shinde. There are two main reasons why Shinde is upset.
Ever since Uddhav Thackeray became Chief Minister of Maharashtra in 2019, he began preparing his son Aditya Thackeray to become the next leader of Shiv Sena after him. This upset Shinde, who felt that younger party members are being given an unfair advantage over loyal old members like him.</p>
<p>Shiv Sena also formed a coalition government with two other parties - Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress - in 2019 when Uddhav Thackeray became the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. They did this because, on its own, the party did not have enough votes to form the government of Maharashtra.</p>
<p>Shinde is also unhappy with the partnership Shiv Sena has formed with these secular parties. Shinde wants Shiv Sena to team up only with other pro-Hindu parties like itself.
</p> <h5>What does the Shiv Sena rebellion look like?</h5>  <p>It’s looking increasingly likely that Shiv Sena won’t remain a Thackeray-ruled party anymore. The total number of MLAs in the Shiv Sena party is 55. Initially, 37 of them had declared Eknath Shinde to be their chosen leader in a signed letter.
The 37 MLAs and Shinde escaped to a hotel in Guwahati, Assam, where they are plotting their next course of action. Currently, Shinde has the support of 46 MLAs, although this number is constantly fluctuating.
</p> <h5>How is Uddhav Thackeray dealing with the rebellion?</h5>  <p>It does not look like Maharashtra’s coalition Government of Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress will hold up much longer. In an emotional speech, Uddhav Thackeray announced that he was willing to give up his position as Chief Minister if his MLAs didn’t have faith in him any longer. 
Currently, the political scenario in Maharashtra is unfolding like a masala Bollywood movie. We’re watching with bated breath to see what happens next.
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The Shiv Sena-led state Government of Maharashtra is in utter chaos as old partnerships collapse and new ones are formed. Let’s find out what is happening.

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