Uddhav Thackeray's Party Fields Ex Union Minister Anant Geete From Raigad: 5 Points

The Shiv Sena (UBT) has fielded Anant Geete, the former Union Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, from the Raigad Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra. Mr Geete, who remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray after the party's split in 2022, is a six-time Lok Sabha MP.

Here are a few facts about Anant Geete:

1. Anant Geete was born on June 2, 1951, in Mumbai to Gangaram Sambhaji Geete and Anandi Bai. He completed his Class 10 from the Mumbai Board (formerly Pune Board) in Ratnagiri. 

2. Mr Geete's political journey began in 1985 as a Shiv Sena councillor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. He chaired the Standing Committee of the municipal corporation from 1990 to 1992. In 1996, he  was elected to the 11th Lok Sabha and Uddhav Thackeray appointed him as the Chief Whip for the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party. 

3. He was re-elected in 1998 and 1999. Apart from serving as the Leader of the Shiv Sena Parliamentary Party, Anant Geete was also a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government. The senior Shiv Sena leader briefly served as Union Minister of State for Finance, Banking and Expenditure, before being sworn in as Union Cabinet Minister for Power until May 2004. 

4. A close aide, first of former Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, and now his son, Uddhav, Anant Geete prefers to keep a low profile. In 2014, he served as Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises in the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. In the 2019 polls, he lost the Raigad seat to Nationalist Congress Party's Sunil Tatkare.  

5. In 2021, Anant Geete was in the headlines for saying that NCP chief Sharad Pawar “backstabbed” the Congress to form his party and he cannot be a “guru” for Shivsainiks. His comments came at a time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress was in power in Maharashtra. Mr Geete also said the MVA government was just an “adjustment”.