Vinayakrao Patil Joins Shinde-Led Shiv Sena

NCP (SP) leader and former minister Vinayakrao Patil has left the Opposition party to join the ruling Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Patil, along with former Shiv Sena (UBT) Latur district chief Santosh Somvanshi, was inducted into the Shiv Sena at a ceremony held in Thane on Monday.

Welcoming the new entrants, Shinde said the Shiv Sena’s "expansion from Buldhana to Nanded" reflects growing public trust in his government’s developmental agenda.

"Shiv Sena is a party of workers where no one is big or small. Even as a leader, I function as a common worker, maintaining an open-door policy where no appointment is needed to meet me," he said, adding that the party continues to follow the ideals of (Sena founder) Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe, whom Shinde considers his mentor.

Shinde, whose party is part of the ruling Mahayuti alliance along with the BJP and Sunetra Pawar's NCP, claimed the Sena has risen to the number two position in the state. He set a target for workers to establish a "Shiv Sainik in every house" and said nearly 25,000 more workers would soon join the party.

On the occasion, the deputy chief minister also highlighted the Mahayuti government’s welfare initiatives, including the Ladki Bahin scheme, farmer loan waivers, and free higher education for girls.

He criticised the Opposition for attempting to stall these schemes through legal challenges, asserting that the welfare programmes would continue regardless.

Patil was elected as an Independent MLA from Ahmedpur in Latur district in 1999 and 2014, and also served as a Minister of State in the cabinet of then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. He later joined the BJP and subsequently the NCP (SP) in 2023.

During the 2024 assembly elections, Patil contested from Ahmedpur on the NCP (SP) ticket but lost to sitting MLA and Cooperation Minister Babasaheb Patil.