Shinde had demanded that the Shiv Sena restore its alliance with the BJP and jointly rule the State
Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with other party MLAs arrived in Guwahati in BJP-ruled Assam early Wednesday morning. They were received by BJP leaders Sushanta Borgohain and Pallab Lochan Das at the airport.
Eknath Shinde claimed he has support of 40 of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs and six Independents. Shinde needs support of 37 MLAs to ensure he doesn’t face disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law. Shinde said he is not breaking away from Shiv Sena and the MLAs will carry forward Balasaheb Thackery’s ‘Hindutva’ ideology. “We have not left Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and will not leave it. We believe in Hindutva,” he said.
Before leaving for Assam, Eknath Shinde and other party MLAs had been camping in a Surat hotel in Gujarat — another BJP-ruled state. The move to shift them to Guwahati came shortly after his telephonic conversation with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
Uddhav Thackeray had asked Eknath Shinde to reconsider and return to the party. Shinde had demanded that the Sena restore its alliance with the BJP and jointly rule the state, sources said. Reports suggest Shiv Sena MLAs were moved to Guwahati by the BJP to avoid any further confrontation with Sena leaders. Several BJP leaders also met Eknath Shinde at the Surat hotel as speculation is rife that the rebel Shiv Sena leader along with other MLAs might join the BJP.
As the government stands deep in crisis, Shiv Sena has housed its remaining MLAs in different hotels in Mumbai. Shinde was sacked as party’s Chief Whip on Tuesday afternoon, he retaliated by dropping Shiv Sena from his Twitter bio.
Nationalist Congress chief Sharad Pawar said the crisis is “an internal matter of the Sena”. Pawar also said he remains fully committed to the three-party government. He also ruled out any tie-up with the opposition BJP.
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut has claimed the rebellion has been engineered by the BJP to topple the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance — a claim denied by the BJP. Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil, however, said that his party would “definitely consider” a proposal to form an alternative government if it comes from Eknath Sinde.
The crisis in Maharashtra unfolded after suspected cross-voting in Monday’s Legislative Council elections in which BJP won five of 10 seats, although its own numbers entitled the party to four seats.
