India, Nov. 24 -- Following the boycott of last Tuesday's state cabinet meeting by his ministers to protest against Big Brother BJP's poaching on the Shiv Sena, Eknath Shinde has been making his unhappiness known. He kept his distance from CM Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP ministers while attending public and government functions the whole of last week and even skipped an event at Navi Mumbai to unveil a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shinde was the chief guest at the function but did not want to share a platform with BJP minister and bete noir Ganesh Naik. While Shinde's sulks are making headlines now, Mantralaya officials say his resentment has been clear ever since the new Mahayuti government was formed under Fadnavis. The Shiv Sena chief, who was CM in the previous government, has not bothered to hide the fact that he is not happy playing second fiddle to Fadnavis. He has been skipping meetings convened by Fadnavis even if they are related to departments headed by him such as urban development, housing and the MSRDC. Significantly, at least two of Shinde's ministers have communicated to Fadnavis that they were not keen to boycott the cabinet meeting but had to toe the party line. When Shinde split the Shiv Sena in 2022 and planned to take the defecting MLAs to Surat, the BJP deputed its Dombivli MLA Ravindra Chavan to facilitate matters and give the group an extra cover of protection. Since the MVA was in power then, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray himself was CM, the operation had to be carried out with the utmost secrecy. Chavan did his job well, earning praise from his party as well as Shinde. From there to Shinde complaining to union home minister Amit Shah about Chavan and the poaching incident, the duo has come full circle. Before he helped Shinde in 2022, Chavan often clashed with Sena leaders in the civic politics of Thane district's Kalyan-Dombivli. Considering that Chavan is now state BJP chief and the party is aiming to dominate Shinde's home turf Thane, more friction is expected between the two during the local body polls. Ironically for Chavan, Shinde's complaint against him to his party bosses comes as a compliment. Former NCP MLA from Solapur district Rajan Patil, who joined the BJP some time ago, had a prestige fight for the municipal body poll in his native town, Angar. While he secured a BJP ticket for his daughter-in-law Prajakta Patil, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP fielded Ujjwala Thite. The nomination process turned into a drama, as Thite alleged that she was not being allowed by Patil's supporters to reach the municipal office to file the nomination. Following a scrutiny of the nomination forms, her candidature was declared void and Patil's daughter-in-law was elected unopposed. Patil's supporters then took out a procession in which his son Balraje publicly warned Ajit not to "mess" with people from Angar. A video of this went viral, evoking strong reactions from the Ajit camp. Realising that this could mean trouble for them in future, the Patil father-son duo released a video the next day, apologising for the son's remarks. Balraje insisted that he meant no harm and had spoken in the heat of the moment. Ajit has not reacted yet while local NCP leaders have raked up an old murder case in which Balraje was on the radar. With nominations being filed for the first phase of the local body polls, established politicians are securing tickets for their family members to ensure that the reins of local politics remain in their hands. Gajanan Suryavanshi, a local BJP leader from Loha in Nanded, has probably set a record in this race, by acquiring six party tickets for the Loha municipal council election: besides himself, he has got candidature for his wife, brother, a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law and a nephew's wife. Dynasty politics is alive and kicking. The selection of Rajesh Aggarwal as the next chief secretary has effectively ended the chance of two high-profile IAS officers, Iqbal Singh Chahal and Bhushan Gagrani, to head the state administration. Chahal, who is additional chief secretary (home), will retire in January while Gagrani, who is Mumbai's municipal commissioner, will retire in March. Aggarwal is to retire in November 2026. Both Chahal and Gagrani were known for the key positions they handled. Significantly, both served in the CM's office and enjoyed significant clout in the government....