Pravin Darekar began his political journey over three decades ago with the students’ wing of the Shiv Sena. He later became a Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) MLA before switching to the BJP, where he served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council.

A member of the Maratha community and known for his involvement in controversies, Darekar was in the spotlight last week when he clashed with Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil over the contentious issue of Maratha reservations. This issue is expected to play a significant role in the upcoming Assembly elections, especially after the BJP’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, where its seat count dropped from 23 in 2019 to nine.

In response to Jarange-Patil’s accusations that Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis was plotting to imprison or harm him, Darekar, who is seen as close to Fadnavis, criticized the activist, stating that he had “lost his mind” and was “crossing all lines of decency.”

According to sources within the BJP, Darekar has been given the task of improving the party’s image among the Maratha community. He also strongly criticized Jarange-Patil, who had accused Darekar of supporting the Maratha Thok Morcha, a social group advocating for Maratha reservations, in an attempt to split the community’s support and undermine the agitation.

“We have shown restraint and respect for Jarange-Patil’s agitation. But if false claims are made against us and our leaders, we have to counter them. We are committed to granting reservation to the Marathas,” Darekar asserted.

Darekar, a B.Com graduate from Mumbai University, entered politics through the Shiv Sena’s student wing, Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS), then led by MNS founder Raj Thackeray. In 2005, he followed Thackeray into the MNS and became a founding member.

In 2009, Darekar won his first election as an MNS candidate from the Magathane Assembly constituency but lost the seat to the Shiv Sena’s Prakash Surve in the next election. In 2015, he left the MNS and joined the BJP, a move met with resistance by some party members. Despite this, Darekar rose within the BJP under the mentorship of Fadnavis, though his ascent has caused some friction among long-time BJP members.

In 2016, the BJP appointed Darekar as an MLC and later elevated him to Leader of the Opposition in the Council in 2019, a decision that sparked criticism from some within the party who questioned why an “outsider” was being rewarded. However, some leaders defended him, emphasizing that loyalty and performance should be rewarded.

Darekar faced setbacks when the BJP denied him an Assembly ticket in 2019 and did not offer him a position in the Eknath Shinde Cabinet.

His tenure as chairman of the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank (MDCCB) from 2015 to 2022 was marred by allegations of financial irregularities. He was accused of falsely claiming to be a laborer to get elected as an MDCCB representative, charges he has consistently denied as politically motivated. He was booked in 2015 on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy, and during the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government’s tenure, he was disqualified by the registrar of cooperative societies. He challenged this order in the Bombay High Court but later withdrew the challenge.

In 2022, Darekar faced an FIR for allegedly forging documents to present himself as a laborer, despite his 2016 MLC election affidavit identifying him as a “businessman/entrepreneur.”

Darekar has also faced criticism from within the BJP during the 2009 and 2014 Assembly polls and from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) after joining the BJP.

After Eknath Shinde took office in June 2022, Darekar returned unopposed as MDCCB chairman, and in December of that year, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) cleared him of the charges in the 2015 case, providing a significant relief.