After Ajit Pawar jumps ship, Sanjay Raut says not ‘an earthquake’, points to Sena rebel MLAs disqualification issue

“The government will become unstable and hence this new support (NCP MLAs) has been taken. One engine (of the government) is about to break down and hence another engine (in the form of Ajit Pawar) has been attached. CM Shinde will be disqualified soon. He will lose the CM post and soon the state will get a new CM,” he added.

In May, the Supreme Court had pronounced its verdict on the legal battle between the two Senas and asked Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar to take a decision on the disqualification proceedings against the 16 MLAs, including Eknath Shinde, from the undivided Shiv Sena.

A Constitution bench of the SC had said, while delivering its judgment on May 11, it would not interfere in the disqualification proceedings against the 16 Sena MLAs pending before the Speaker. The bench had said the Speaker must decide on the same within a “reasonable period”.

Last month, Sanjay Raut had said the Shiv Sena (UBT) will approach the Supreme Court again if Narvekar doesn’t take a decision on the disqualification of 16 MLAs of the Eknath Shinde-led Sena within 90 days. The Maharashtra Assembly Speaker is yet to begin the procedure for hearing the disqualification pleas and has not issued notices to any of the MLAs yet.

The senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader further said the current dispensation is unstable. “Even after having the support of 165 MLAs if they need Ajit Pawar and other MLAs’ support, then it means that as per the SC verdict, soon Sena rebel MLAs will be disqualified,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Raut had also tweeted he had spoken with NCP chief and Ajit Pawar’s uncle Sharad Pawar. “He said ‘I am strong. We have the support of the people. We will rebuild everything again with Uddhav Thackeray’. Yes, people will not tolerate this game for long,” he had said.