Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Eknath Shinde’s frequent trips to Delhi and meetings with central BJP leaders amid problems between his party and the state BJP have placed him on a slippery footing and affected his stature as a leader.

Shinde has met Union Home Minister Amit Shah over a dozen times since the Mahayuti’s victory in last year’s Assembly polls. In the past month alone, he has met Shah twice, the latest on Wednesday, where he is learnt to have expressed displeasure about state BJP chief Ravindra Chavan’s “aggressive overdrive” in poaching his leaders, especially in the Kalyan-Dombivali area that is his son and MP Shrikhant Shinde’s backyard.

“The central leadership has conveyed their disapproval to Shinde about his ministers skipping the Cabinet meetin

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