Once Uddhav Thackeray’s go-to person, MLA joins forces with Eknath Shinde: Who is Ravindra Waikar?

There had been speculation for months that Waikar might switch to the ruling alliance in Maharashtra. After he made the move on Sunday, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut alleged that the three-time MLA was under pressure from investigating agencies.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde welcomes Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ravindra Waikar as he joins Shiv Sene (Shinde) faction, in Mumbai, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (PTI Photo)

Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Ravindra Waikar who joined the Shiv Sena led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday night was a close associate of party chief Uddhav Thackeray. He has been under the lens of the Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the construction of a luxury hotel in the city, allegedly in violation of an agreement with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

There has been speculation for months that Waikar might switch to the ruling alliance. After he changed camps, Sena (UBT) MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut alleged that the MLA was facing pressure from investigating agencies and was being threatened to either defect or face jail. The EOW had booked Waikar and five others on a complaint by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya who alleged that the Sena politician was involved in a Rs 500 crore scam. Somaiya alleged that Waikar fraudulently obtained approval for the construction of a five-star hotel on a plot reserved for a garden by using his political clout, causing a huge loss to the BMC.

Based on the Mumbai Police’s FIR, the ED registered a case of money laundering against Waikar last November. The central agency also raided seven premises linked to Waikar and questioned him a few times.

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A three-time MLA, the 65-year-old Waikar started his political career as a grassroots-level Shiv Sainik in the 1980s and became a BMC corporator from Mumbai’s Jogeshwari area. He was elected corporator for four consecutive terms and served as the chairperson of the BMC standing committee from 2006 to 2009. He was thrice elected MLA from Jogeshwari East thrice – in 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Waikar also held the portfolio of Minister of State for Housing and Higher and Technical Education from 2015 to 2019 in the BJP-Shiv Sena state government led by Devendra Fadnavus. Later, in the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government that was in power from November 2019 to June 2022, he was the guardian minister of his home district Ratnagiri.

Known as a staunch Shiv Sainik and trusted colleague of Uddhav, Waikar played a major role in building the organisational structure of the Shiv Sena after Uddhav took over the party’s reins in 2003. He played a major role in election campaigning, especially after the death of Sena founder Bal Thackeray in 2012. He was also instrumental in the construction of the Shiv Sena Bhavan, the party’s headquarters in Dadar, and the party’s legislative office Shivalaya in Mumbai, and was considered the go-to person for Uddhav before he took any major decisions.

Since 2014, Waikar, who has family relations with the Thackerays, has faced a string of allegations from Congress and BJP leaders. The accusations were, however, always considered to be an attack on the Thackerays as their proximity was well-known.

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In 2016, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam accused the MLA of usurping a public plot at Aarey Milk Colony and carrying out illegal construction at a gymnasium built there using his legislator funds. At the time, Nirupam met then CM Fadnavis and sought to sack the Sena leader from the Cabinet. Nirupam also alleged that Waikar misused his ministerial position to benefit companies linked to him by furthering six slum redevelopment projects in Andheri and Jogeshwari.

In 2020, Somaiya raised allegations of financial deals between the Thackerays and the family of interior designer Anvay Naik who had died by suicide along with his mother two years earlier. After Waikar’s wife Manisha moved a defamation suit against Somaiya, the Bombay High Court restrained the BJP leader from levelling further allegations in public.