Eknath Shinde to contest from Kopri-Pachpakhadi assembly seat. His rebellion had ousted the Uddhav Thackeray government in 2022 and caused a split in the Shiv Sena. Shinde has been elected to Maharashtra Assembly for four consecutive terms in 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Shinde, hailing from the Jawali taluka in Satara and belonging to the Maratha community, initially drove an auto rickshaw to support his family in Thane. In 1997, he was elected to the Thane Municipal Corporation, where he was assigned by the Shiv Sena to work, helping him establish a strong base in the region. Shinde was introduced to politics by then Thane Shiv Sena President Anand Dighe in early 1980. In this seat, Shiv Sena (UBT) fielded Kedar Dighe. Kedar Dighe is the nephew of Shinde’s late political mentor.