Mumbai, Jan 18: From a boy peon in a Solapur session court and then a sub-inspector of police, Sushilkumar Shinde has come a long way to be all set to become Maharasthra's first Dalit chief minister following his election as the leader of the Congress legislature party today.
61-year-old Shinde, a close chum of outgoing chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, was initiated into politics by NCP leader Sharad Pawar in the early seventies.
After resigning from the Bombay police department in 1971, Shinde plunged into active politics never looking back.
A second time member of the Lok Sabha from Solapur in western Maharashtra, the veteran Congressman has been all India general secretary of the party and was nominated to the Congress working committee. Despite belonging to the scheduled caste, he has been elected from a general constituency.
He unsuccessfully contested the vice presidential election as Congress' nominee against B S Shekhawat last year.
As finance minister in Maharashtra, he created a record of sorts by presenting as many as nine successive budgets.
Shinde, who had been twice PCC chief, had spearheaded the revolt against chief minister Sharad Pawar in 1991, following signals from the congress high command. This was despite the fact that Pawar was instrumental in bringing him into politics.
At the time of the revolt, Shinde was heading the PCC and Vilasrao Deshmukh was one of the senior ministers who had joined the rebellion.
Bureau Report
Bureau Report