Mumbai, Jan 16: 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
