Shiv Sena (2022–present)

Shiv Sena (Śhiva Sēnā; lit. 'Army of Shivaji'; abbr. SHS) is a right-wing political party in India, primarily based in the state of Maharashtra. It was founded on 19 June 1966 by Bal Thackeray, initially as a movement to promote the interests of the Marathi people in Mumbai and Maharashtra.^[14] Over time, the party expanded its ideology to include Hindutva and Hindu nationalism.^[15]

Shiv Sena
Abbreviation	SHS
Leader	Eknath Shinde[1]
Chairman	Eknath Shinde
Parliamentary Chairperson	Shrirang Barne
Lok Sabha Leader	Shrikant Shinde
Rajya Sabha Leader	Milind Deora
Founder	Bal Thackeray
Founded	10 October 2022 (2 years ago) (2022-10-10)
Split from	Shiv Sena (1966–2022)
Headquarters	Anand Ashram, Thane, Thane district, Maharashtra, India[2]
Student wing	Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS)
Youth wing	Yuva Sena
Women's wing	Shiv Sena Mahila Aghadi
Ideology	Conservatism (Indian)[3] Social conservatism[4] Marathi regionalism Hindutva[5] Hindu nationalism[6] Ultranationalism[7][8][9] Economic nationalism[10] Right-wing populism[11]
Political position	Right wing to far-right[12]
Colours	Orange
ECI Status	State Party
Alliance	Maha Yuti (Maharashtra) National Democratic Alliance (national)
Seats in Lok Sabha	7 / 543
Seats in Rajya Sabha	1 / 245
Seats in State Legislative Assemblies	List 57 / 288 (Maharashtra Legislative Assembly) 2 / 200 (Rajasthan Legislative Assembly)
Seats in Maharashtra Legislative Council	6 / 78
Election symbol
[13]
Party flag
Website
shivsenacentraloffice.com
Politics of India Political parties Elections

Since a split in 2022, the party has been led by Eknath Shinde, who is recognised by the Election Commission of India as the leader of the original Shiv Sena.^[16] The Shinde-led faction retained the party's traditional name and the iconic bow and arrow symbol, and currently forms the government in Maharashtra in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).^[17] The party continues to position itself as the true ideological successor to Bal Thackeray’s legacy.^[16]

Formation

Balasahebanchi Shivsena was formed after a split in the Shiv Sena party due to an uprising led by Eknath Shinde, who had the support of the majority of the party's MLAs. The split was caused by Shinde's disagreement with Uddhav Thackeray's decision to continue with the Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition, despite Shinde and the majority of the party's MLAs requesting a break from the coalition. The split led to both factions claiming ownership of Shiv Sena. The Election Commission intervened and asked both factions to come up with new party names until the issue was resolved, resulting in the formation of Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena. Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray formed his faction as Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).^[18]

Headquarters

Shiva Sena's headquarters and main office is situated at Anand Dighe's house in Thane. Dighe was the mentor of Shiva Sena Mukhy neta (Main leader) Eknath Shinde. On 24 February 2023, the headquarters was founded, relocating from Shivsena Bhavan after Shinde split from the party;^[19] while Thackeray retained control over Shivsena Bhavan.^{[citation needed]}

Chief Ministers

No.	Portrait	Name	Constituency	From	To	Duration
1		Eknath Shinde	Kopri-Pachpakhadi	30 June 2022[20]	5 December 2024	2 years, 158 days

Deputy Chief Ministers

No.	Portrait	Name	Constituency	From	To	Duration	Chief Minister
1		Eknath Shinde	Kopri-Pachpakhadi	5 December 2024	Present	140 days	Devendra Fadnavis

List of Union Ministers

No.	Photo	Portfolio	Name (Lifespan)	Assumed office	Left office	Duration	Constituency (House)	Prime Minister
1		Minister of AYUSH [MoS(I/C)]	Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav (born 1960)	10 June 2024	Incumbent	318 days	Buldhana (Lok Sabha)			Narendra Modi
		Minister of Health & Family Welfare (MoS)

Leaders

List of leaders of Shiv Sena

No.	Name	Photo	Designation
1	Eknath Shinde		Founder and National President Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Leader Maharashtra Legislative Assembly
2	Shrikant Shinde		Leader, Lok Sabha
3	Shrirang Barne		Parliamentary Chairperson, Lok Sabha
4	Milind Deora		Leader, Rajya Sabha
5	Viplav Bajoria		Leader, Maharashtra Legislative Council

List of Rajya Sabha members

No.	Name	Date of appointment	Date of retirement
1	Milind Deora	5 July 2024	4 July 2030

List of Lok Sabha members

No.	Name	Constituency
1	Shrikant Shinde	Kalyan
2	Ravindra Waikar	Mumbai North West
3	Sandipanrao Bhumre	Aurangabad
4	Naresh Mhaske	Thane
5	Shrirang Barne	Maval
6	Dhairyasheel Sambhajirao Mane	Hatkanangle
7	Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhav	Buldhana

Electoral performance

The first face off between Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) was in 2022 Maharashtra Gram Panchayat Polls where Maha Vikas Aghadi won 257 gram panchayat seats while Mahayuti won 497 seats. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) won 53 seats and Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena won 170 seats.^[21] The first major contest occurred in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, where the party rechristened as the Shiv Sena after being granted the symbol by the ECI secured 7 seats leading to a loss of 6 seats while Shiv Sena (UBT) won 9 gaining 4, since the party had split.^{[citation needed]}

Lok Sabha elections

Year	Seats won	Change in seats
2024	7 / 48	10

State Assembly elections

Year	Seats won	Change in seats
Maharashtra
2024	57 / 288	17