Who is Rajesh Shah, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena leader whose son was involved in a BMW accident in Mumbai?

Rajesh Shah, the vice-president of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena in Palghar, was arrested on Sunday in connection with his son Mihir Shah’s hit-and-run case in which a woman on a motorcycle was killed by a BMW in Worli.

Rajesh is known to be a close confidant of the Maharashtra Chief Minister and their closeness extends beyond the Shiv Sena split in 2022. The Hindustan Times reported.

Shah is reportedly highly valued within the party for his “management skills” as well as his networking in various communities in and around Palghar.

The leader of the Shinde faction is said to belong to a business family and has a great influence on the scrap trade in the MIDC complex and the industrial areas around Palghar. Shah is also said to be a supplier of construction materials.

Shah came into contact with Shinde, who was working in and around Thane in the early 2000s. While the then undivided Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray had entrusted Shinde with the responsibility of party-related work in Thane and Palghar, Shinde approached Shah.

A Shiv Sena (UBT) official said HT that once there was a fight between two groups at an industrial unit and a poster of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray was damaged during the ensuing clash. Though Shah, as the party’s district chief, was expected to raise his voice against it, he did not do much and when local officials took up the matter with the party leadership, they too did not do much as Shah was “Shinde’s man,” the person said.

Workers from both the factions have praised Shah’s management, negotiating skills and financial muscle, the publication reported. The Shinde Sena leader owns a house in Palghar’s Kelve-Mahim area and another in Borivali. He is known to maintain friendly relations with everyone in Palghar and attends events like Ram Navami and Ambedkar Jayanti, helps local organisers and conducts meetings with local office-bearers, community leaders and organisations as part of the party’s campaign, the publication said.

“In April 2023, CM Shinde Kundan appointed Sankhe as the party’s district president in Palghar for organisational reasons. But he made Shah the vice-president of Palghar to show that he had not been sidelined,” said a Shiv Sena office-bearer from Palghar HT.

Mihir Shah, Rajesh’s son, who was involved in the accident, reportedly lived in Borivali residence and was not very well known in Palghar.

The guide noted that Mihir visited Palghar sometimes, mostly due to work in the family business. Although he was not too involved in political activities, Mihir spent time with his father, the guide told the publication.

Another leader said Mihir was a “young boy who loved a lavish lifestyle.”