Unlike his rivals, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde did not launch his campaign for the upcoming elections with dusty rallies, chest-thumping speeches or fiery public confrontations with political opponents. The former autorickshaw driver, who fought his way from Thane’s subaltern corners to the top of Maharashtra’s political ladder, could well have started his electoral outreach much before his allies and rivals on the silver screen.

Dharmaveer, a two-part Marathi biopic about Shiv Sena’s suburban giant Anand Dighe, Shinde’s mentor, depicts his rise to power and his close bond with Dighe. But one scene, which perhaps, inadvertently, reflects Dighe’s and the undivided Sena’s stance on political gaddars (traitors), visibly chafes against the film’s sympathetic and saccharine-dipped portrayal of Shinde. Midway through the film, a tense moment highlights Dighe’s reaction to political betrayal in a mayoral election in Thane in 1988, where Sena candidate Prakash Paranjpe lost by one vote due to defection. Enraged, Dighe mutters, “gaddaranna kshama nahi” (traitors deserve no mercy), as Shinde and other Sena workers watch. Dighe then orders his men to chase and punish the traitors. This cinematic moment mirrors the real-life consequences of betrayal within the party. Shinde has faced this challenge since 2022, when he and other party MLAs rebelled against the Sena leadership, toppling the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and plunging Maharashtra into political turmoil.

The rebellion occurred soon after the premiere of the movie in May that year when Shinde was serving as urban development minister in the Thackeray-led cabinet. After a dramatic nine-day crisis, Shinde staked his claim to form a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), becoming Maharashtra’s 26th CM. However, the label of “gaddar” (traitor) continues to stick to him.

“Someone like Shinde, who was a rickshaw driver, was made a corporator, then leader of the House, an MLA three times and a high-ranking minister by the Shiv Sena. For 23 years, the party gave him everything, and in the end, he backstabbed the Sena for the CM’s post,” accuses Rekha Khopkar, a three-time corporator and leader of the Sena (UBT) women’s wing in Thane. “What else shall we call such a person if not gaddar? It’s not just me, but all true sainiks feel the same,” she adds.

As a first-time corporator, Khopkar witnessed the 1988 incident from close quarters, when Dighe unleashed his brand of justice on a Sena gaddar after the Thane mayoral elections, as depicted in Dharmaveer. She believes Shinde would never have dared to break from the Sena if Dighe were alive. While many Thane-based Sena members have joined Shinde’s faction, Khopkar remains loyal to the original party under Thackeray.

The film’s second installment, Dharmaveer: Mukkam Post Thane, released just before the assembly elections, portrays Dighe as a formidable leader, positioning Shinde as his rightful successor.

For loyalists of the Sena and the Thackeray family like Khopkar, Shinde is nothing more than a traitor. From Uddhav and his son, MLA Aditya Thackeray, to senior leaders and grassroots workers, Shinde has been branded a gaddar, with his party labelled a ‘fake’ Sena. The slogan “50 khoke, sab okay” (With 50 crore, everything’s okay) has tarnished his reputation, fuelling speculation that Shinde sold his loyalty at a price.

The rise of a common sainik (Shiv Sena footsoldier) from Thane’s Kisan Nagar, who once drove an autorickshaw for a living, to becoming the chief minister surprised many, including his closest associates. Yet, none doubted Shinde’s ability to lead Maharashtra under his Sena faction’s leadership.

“Jo jatyat sinha asto toh jikde basto tikde sinhasan nirman karto (One with the nature of a lion creates a throne wherever he sits),” says Anita Birje, a veteran Sena leader from Thane and chief of Sena (Shinde group) women cell. “Bhai (Shinde) has done the same. He created a throne for himself through sheer daring.”

According to Birje, Shinde’s reserved and meek demeanour tends to mask the “raging lion” within him that emerges in the face of injustice. “Bhai was raised as a sainik on Bal Thackeray’s ideology and under Dighe’s mentorship. He always had a deep passion to serve society and fight against injustice,” says Birje, a Shinde loyalist for decades. Birje initially disapproved of Shinde’s rebellion that split the Sena and unseated Thackeray. However, after meeting Shinde and hearing his account of injustice under Uddhav, she joined Shinde’s faction.

Shinde has stated in multiple interviews that he rebelled due to Uddhav’s mistreatment of the Sena cadre and betrayal of Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva ideology by allying with the Congress and the NCP. “Uddhav wanted only ‘Yes Boss’ culture... I was also sidelined by his son Aditya Thackeray,” the chief minister has maintained.

Shinde began his political journey in the early 1980s as a young Sena worker in Thane’s Kisan Nagar and Wagle Estate, areas where the party had little presence. At that time, Dighe was the dominant strongman of Thane, feared yet loved for his raw emotional connection with the people and his penchant for delivering swift justice. A militant leader and cultural figure akin to Robin Hood, Dighe safeguarded local interests with his band of handpicked Sainiks. Milind Ballal, the editor of Thane Vaibhav, a local newspaper, recalls Shinde as one of many young men mentored by Dighe, who identified and groomed leaders throughout Thane.

In Dharmaveer, Sena leaders describe Shinde as a diamond and Dighe as a johari (jeweller) with a knack for finding precious gems.

Ballal remembers Shinde as a modest, grassroots leader who established his potential under Dighe’s leadership and proved himself to be a resourceful party worker.

Dighe, influenced by Bal Thackeray, never contested elections or held political office. Like his mentor, he wielded power behind the scenes, focusing on building Shiv Sena’s organisation and grassroots cadre. He played a key role in the party’s first electoral victory in the Thane Municipal Corporation, where Shinde was elected as a corporator and leader of the house.

Following Dighe’s sudden death in 2001, Shinde emerged as the unofficial heir to his legacy. Unlike Dighe, Shinde pursued higher electoral positions, progressing from shakha pramukh (branch head) in Kisan Nagar to corporator, MLA, cabinet minister and as Thane’s guardian minister.

“Shinde understood very early on that one can build the organisation without sacrificing electoral ambitions, like Dighe did. And that was a game-changer in elevating his political career,” Ballal says, adding that Shinde realised that one has to stay in the system to get things done for the people and the organisation.

In his first address as CM in July 2022, Shinde broke down, recalling Dighe, who the chief minister said, had revived his political career after the tragic loss of his two children in a boat accident. Shinde shared how Dighe comforted him after the tragedy and urged him not to give up on politics during that emotionally turbulent time.

“My family was destroyed. I was heartbroken. I only wanted to live for the sake of my family. Dighe saheb visited me five times… I told him I can’t do justice to your organisation. But he advised me to swallow this bitter pill and march on.”

Shinde’s tenure as chief minister has been anything but smooth. Early on, he faced criticism for appearing subservient to former CM Devendra Fadnavis, the BJP’s key figure in Maharashtra. Critics labelled him a ‘puppet’ and predicted political suicide after his split from the Sena. Many doubted his leadership, questioning whether he could establish credibility as Sena chief and lead with conviction.

However, Shinde silenced early sceptics by achieving strong results in the Lok Sabha elections, winning seven out of 15 contested seats for his Sena within the Mahayuti alliance. He solidified his hold in Thane, with victories for his son Dr Shrikant Shinde in Kalyan and ally Naresh Mhaske in Thane. In comparison, the BJP secured nine of 28 seats, while NCP (Ajit Pawar) won just one of four contested seats.

A jubilant Shinde joined the BJP’s victory celebrations in Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meanwhile, a disappointed Fadnavis, blaming himself for the BJP’s narrow win, offered to resign as deputy CM. That election marked Shinde’s evolution from a grassroots leader in Thane to a strong regional leader capable of delivering credible electoral performances and leveraging influence in the national capital.

He scored another political brownie point by refusing to nominate his son Shrikant Shinde, three-time member of parliament, for a union cabinet berth, proposing senior Sena MP Prataprao Jadhav instead.

Naresh Mhaske, the newly elected MP and former mayor of Thane, says he was always confident that Shinde would eventually make his mark and could not be overshadowed for long. “He could never be anyone’s puppet. He imbibes Balasaheb’s thoughts and principles,” says Mhaske, who has been Shinde’s political companion since they were youngsters.

“In politics, it is believed that one has to come from an elite family background or (from) generational wealth. Shinde challenged that notion by rising from a struggling background to becoming the CM,” he adds.

Riding on the success of the Lok Sabha elections, Shinde has turned his focus to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, crucial for the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance to solidify its dominance in the industrially rich state.

With populist schemes, financial subsidies and infrastructure projects, the Mahayuti government appears to have pushed an appeasement agenda to win the polls at any cost. Shinde also championed the Mukhyamantri Majhi Laadki Bahin Yojana (MMLBY), offering Rs 1,500 monthly to women with low income. Birje credits Shinde for blending development with welfare, citing initiatives like the MMLBY and a 50 per cent travel concession for women. While these schemes have boosted Shinde’s mass appeal, Ballal notes Shinde’s strategic adaptability in the BJP’s political landscape.

“Shinde has learnt the tradecraft of the BJP’s politics, while managing his hold on Sena. He has created a space for himself amid more seasoned and cunning BJP leaders, without surrendering Sena’s fate in their hands,” she maintains.

But the pitch for Shinde’s own election from the Kopri-Pachpakhadi constituency is a queer one this time. Shinde, Dighe’s prodigy, faces Dighe’s nephew, Kedar (Sena-UBT), in the late Dighe’s fiefdom. The contest, according to poll analysts, promises to be an interesting one; pitching a shagird (student) against a kin of the man who’s writ continues to run large in Thane, even posthumously. The latest political episode in the life and times of Eknath Sambhaji Shinde, may well contain enough substance for a third cinematic offering in the Dharmaveer movie series.