The Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly has issued a disqualification notice to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp who are currently camping in Guwahati. They have been given time till June 27 to file their written replies, news agency ANI reported. On the other hand, the national executive of the Shiv Sena, a meeting of which was chaired by CM Uddhav Thackeray today afternoon, passed a resolution stating that no one would be allowed to use the name of the party or Balasaheb Thackeray to form a new group. This came after Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, who is leading a revolt against CM Uddhav Thackeray, decided to name his faction “Shiv Sena Balasaheb”.
MVA end nears, Uddhav loses control, Sena says can exit govt if rebels return
The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition in Maharashtra appeared to be on the verge of collapse Thursday after Chief Minister and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray lost the support of majority party MLAs who rallied behind rebel leader Eknath Shinde and his call for ending the alliance with the “ideologically opposed” NCP and Congress.
In a tacit admission that Uddhav was no longer in control of his legislators, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut said the party was ready to walk out of the MVA government.
"If you are Shiv Sainiks, if you are saying that you are not leaving Shiv Sena and that your issue is with the government, then Shiv Sena is willing to walk out of the government and MVA alliance. But first show the courage to come here and put forward your demands in front of Uddhav Saheb. Surely, it will be considered. Come back within 24 hours, we will sit with Uddhav Saheb and think on accepting your demands," he said.
Plane fare at least Rs 50 lakh: Eknath Sinde’s ‘operation’ a costly affair
A chartered aircraft, three luxury buses, and a hotel about a kilometre from the airport — it has been a costly affair for Eknath Shinde to get the rebel MLAs out of Maharashtra so as to try and break the Shiv Sena away from the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).
The drama started Tuesday and the night after as Minister Eknath Shinde moved out of Maharashtra with his flock of rebel MLAs, including Independents, and travelled to Surat in BJP-ruled Gujarat. As night fell, a chartered SpiceJet aircraft was ready at the airport. And about 30 minutes past midnight, three luxury buses pulled up at the hotel to take Shinde and his MLAs to the airport and onward to Guwahati.
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MLA Bharatshet Gogawale, who is part of the Eknath Shinde camp, while voicing his reasons for the rebellion, said: “CM Uddhav Thackeray didn't hold a single meeting in the last two-and-a-half years with the Shiv Sena leaders who lost the Assembly polls in 2019. On contrary, state's Deputy CM Ajit Pawar gave funds to the NCP candidates who had lost the polls. During this time, it was Eknath Shinde who supported them.”
Amid the heightening political crisis in Maharashtra, Rebel MLA Eknath Shinde on Sunday challenged the Shiv Sena’s move to disqualify him and 15 other MLA’s in the Supreme Court. The apex court will hear the matter tomorrow at 10:30 am.
Maharashtra Minister of Higher & Technical Education, Uday Samant reached Guwahati on Sunday and became the ninth minister to join the Eknath Shinde camp.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said that the 40 MLAs in Guwahati are living corpses and their souls are dead. "Their bodies will be sent directly to the Assembly for post-mortem when they come back. They know what can happen in the fire that has been lit here," Raut said while talking to reporters.
Amid the broiling political crisis in Maharashtra, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar assured his support for Chief Minister Uddhav Thackery "till last minute" and said that the policy of NCP and Congress are clear to support the ruling coalition. Talking to reporters on Sunday, Pawar said, "Eknath Shinde and other MLAs who've gone with him to Guwahati have said to form a new alliance but NCP and Congress' policy is clear to support the coalition government that we had formed. MVA govt is there(in Maharashtra) and we want to continue supporting it."
Maharashtra Governor B S Koshiyari has written to Chief Secretary, additional chief secretary home, DGP and police commissioner of Mumbai to provide security to all MLAs and their families who are in Guwahati on an immediate basis.
Even as a political turmoil unfolds in Maharashtra, Union Minister Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on Friday said that the rebel MLAs 'who are traitors' will not be taken back into Shiv Sena and the party's doors are open 'for those who want to to leave and for those who want to return to the party.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday posted a tweet targetting the rebel MLAs of the party, in which he said that however long they may "hide" in Assam's Guwahati, they will ultimately have to come to "chowpatty", a reference to Mumbai.
"How long will you hide in Guwahati, you will have to come to chowpatty," the Sena MP tweeted in Hindi along with a photo of the state Assembly's Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal looking into the distance.
Shiv Sena's Uday Samant, MLA from Ratnagiri Vidhan Saba flew to Guwahati on Sunday afternoon from Surat. Samant is another member from Uddhav camp to fly and join Eknath Shinde camp. He is the eight minister to join the rebel camp.
Security outside Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Sada Sarvankar's house.
Loyalists of party president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took out a two-wheeler rally in Mumbai and held protests in parts of Pune against the dissident leaders on Sunday.Sena workers and its local functionaries, led by the Pune city unit president Gajanan Tharkude, staged 'jode maro' (hit with footwear) protests at two places - outside Balgandharva auditorium and in Kothrud - and raised slogans against the rebels. The party workers were seen hitting Shinde's photo with footwear."These protests are meant to put out a message that Shiv Sainiks will not forgive the traitors," Tharkude said. Party corporators, local office-bearers and workers took part in the agitations, he said, adding that a two-wheeler rally was also organised in support of Thackeray.
In a warning to the Shiv Sena rebel leaders currently in Guwahati with Eknath Shinde, party leader and cabinet minister Aaditya Thackeray said the road from Mumbai airport to Vidhan Bhavan, the state legislature complex, goes via Worli (a Shiv Sena bastion currently represented by the Yuva Sena chief).
The 30-year-old son of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also said there was no place for "traitors" in the party. (PTI)
The ‘Aaya Ram Gaya Ram' politics of the '80s in India has acquired a whole new meaning these days with rebel lawmakers checking-in to cool-off at luxurious resorts while sending political temperatures soaring outside.
Be it an attempt to topple the government in Maharashtra or keeping the flock of lawmakers together during recently-held Rajya Sabha polls, the new normal is for them to be moved to a luxury hotel or resort which is turned into an impregnable fortress by the party that holds reins of those legislators.
The focus is back on resort politics with a dissident group of Shiv Sena MLAs lead by Eknath Shinde moving into Guwahati's Radisson Blu Hotel, where they are cooling their heels after they were shifted from a hotel in Surat last week, throwing the Uddhav-led Shiv Sena and the MVA government in Maharashtra into an existential crisis.
While over the years on many occasions resort politics has yielded positive results for the rebels, it has also seen its share of failed bids like the 1982 Devi Lal-BJP coalition failing to prevent an MLA from escaping from a hotel where legislators were lodged and also Congress leader Sachin Pilot recently not going the distance to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led government. (PTI)
Even as a political turmoil unfolds in Maharashtra, 15 of the rebel MLAs have been granted central security cover by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Sources said the 15 MLAs granted security does not include leader of the rebel group Eknath Shinde. Among those included are Ramesh Bornare, Mangesh Kudalkar, Sanjay Shirsat, Latabai Sonawane, Prakas Surve and 10 others. They said the MLAs have been granted Y plus security cover of the CRPF and the elected respresentatives will be protected both when mobile and at home.
The move comes following reports of attacks on residences of rebel MLAs in Maharashtra by alleged workers of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and it suppprters. "The decision has been taken after a threat assessment by the Intelligence Bureau and only those MLAs who have a genuine threat have been provided protection," a home ministry official said.
In a meeting of Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders held at Sharad Pawar's Silver Oak residence, the possible legal battle ahead in the face of the instability the government faces was discussed.
Senior Congress leaders and ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan, Shiv Sena's Anil Desai and Parab, and state ministers Dilip Walse Patil and Ajit Pawar were present. The leaders reflected on current political developments in Maharashtra. They also discussed the possible legal battle ahead as the rebel Eknath Shinde faction indicated they will challenge disqualification notices issued by Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal in court.
The Meeting of Eknath Shinde faction began in Guwahati to discuss further strategies and legal aspects, sources told ANI. Another important meeting could be held later today.
The camp of rebel MLAs will approach court after seekiing legal opinion on Maharashtra Deputy Speaker's decision to remove Eknath Shinde as Shiv Sena Legislature Party leader, sources told ANI. The Shinde faction says the Deputy Speaker should have given at least seven days to rebel MLAs to reply to the notice.
The political crisis brewing in Maharashtra spilt over on the streets as Shiv Sena workers led a bike rally in Mumbai and a 'joote maaro andolan' in Pune to protest Eknath Shinde's rebellion.
Meanwhile, Shinde's supporters painted over posters installed in support of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in Thane.
Speaking to reporters, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said people trust the party led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. "Uddhav ji said that those who have rebelled should not use the Shiv Sena name and use their father's name and ask for votes," he said.
He further hit out at the rebel MLAs, adding that they have to come to Mumbai to execute their strategies and plans. "Thousands and lakhs of Shiv Sainiks are waiting for our one gesture, but we have still exercised restraint," Raut said.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut targetting the rebel MLAs of the party, saying that however long they may "hide" in Assam's Guwahati, they will ultimately have to come to "chowpatty", a reference to Mumbai.
"How long will you hide in Guwahati, you will have to come to chowpatty," the Sena MP tweeted in Hindi.
Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde has called a meeting of MLAs at 12 pm at the Guwahati hotel where they are residing since last week to discuss further strategy, sources told ANI.
Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray in a reference to Chief Minister and his father Uddhav Thackeray said that the person who did the most powerful work during Covid-19 had to leave his official residence.
"Looking at the last 2-4 days, it feels that those who left, left for good. Many people told me that many leaders will come and go but no one will be like this CM," he said.
Aaditya further said that Sena MLAs in touch with the party said that many leaders have been forced to accompany the Eknath Shinde camp. "Why did they go to Surat, then Guwahati, to break the party? Many MLAs there look like they were forced to be there. 10-15 MLAs are in touch with us and they can vouch for this," he said.
"Lakhs of rupees are being spent on our MLAs who were forcibly taken there..Rs 9 lakhs a day. Lakhs of flood-affected people in the very same Assam are left on their own. For the first time, Opposition is supporting a faction leaving the ruling party," the Yuva Sena chief said.
"We are ready to fight again if you have to power to fight without Shiv Sena. We won't let traitors win at any cost now. After this incident, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi called CM (Uddhav Thackeray)," Aaditya said.
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, who was hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19 last week around the time the political crisis began in the state, has been discharged after treatment on Sunday.
With the state plunged into a political crisis after a rebellion in the Shiv Sena, the Mumbai police has banned unlawful assembly of more than five persons under provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act in the city and beefed up security at the residences and offices of all ministers, elected representatives and party leaders. The prohibitory order was issued on June 4 and reiterated by the police now in the wake of the political situation in the state.
On high alert after a few incidents of violence where Shiv Sena workers attacked the offices of some rebel party MLAs, the Mumbai police said on Saturday that assembly of more than five people anywhere on the streets will not be allowed, with exceptions like weddings, funerals, cinema halls and other social gatherings outside courts, companies and educational institutions. Further, no controversial banners or posters will be allowed to be put up as it could provoke sentiments, leading to law and order issues in Mumbai.
Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s recent rebellion is reminiscent of a similar revolt in Maharashtra in 1978, then the first of its kind in the state’s political history. The rebel group then was led by none other than Sharad Pawar, who had succeeded in toppling the Vasantdada Patil government – formed after two splinter groups of Congress had joined hands – and becoming the youngest chief minister at the age of 38.
Then Maval MLA Krishnarao Bhegde, now 87, was part of the rebel group. Recalling the 1978 rebellion, Bhegde said it was the likes of Pawar, Govindrao Adik and Prataprao Bhosale who were in the forefront of the rebellion then. Read more
AT 51, Devendra Fadnavis is younger than the number of years Sharad Pawar has spent in electoral politics. Last week, the BJP leader achieved the near impossible in Maharashtra by outsmarting the grand old man of state politics and stealing power from right under his nose.
Pawar, as reported by this paper, didn’t mince his words asking how both his NCP’s Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil and Shiv Sena Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had no whiff of the brewing rebellion. However, if Uddhav clearly lost the plot when it comes to the Sena, the script couldn’t have gone better for one man, Devendra Fadnavis. Read more
Voicing reasons as to why he chose to put up a rebellion against the ruling Maharashtra coalition, and in turn Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Eknath Shinde on Saturday tweeted: “Shiv Sena workers must understand that I want to free the party and its workers from the clutches of the MVA government and I have been working for the same. This battle is for the betterment of the party and its workers.”
Thane and Palghar NCP chief and coordinator Anand Paranjpe on Saturday hit back at Shrikant Shinde, Kalyan Lok Sabha MP and son of Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde, for alleging that the NCP had discriminated in allotting development work funds.
Shinde had made the claim while addressing a rally of supporters of his father here earlier in the day. Paranjpe, who was a Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan several years ago before crossing over to the NCP, said Shinde's allegations against the NCP and its supremo Sharad Pawar were baseless. He also said Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray knew how to run his party efficiently and statements against him by disgruntled MLAs were false. Paranjpe said Eknath Shinde, as Thane guardian minister, had created hurdles in fund allotment to areas under NCP MLAs here. (PTI)
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday claimed that the rebel Maharashtra ministers in the Eknath Shinde camp will lose their posts "in 24 hours." Earlier in the day, the party's national executive authorised Sena president and state chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to take action against the rebel MLAs led by Shinde, a senior cabinet minister.
Talking to a Marathi news channel in the evening, Raut said “the process of their removal is on”. “Ministers like Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sandipan Bhumre were considered to be loyal Shiv Sena workers who were made cabinet ministers by Uddhav Thackeray....the party has given them enough. They have taken the wrong path and will lose their posts in 24 hours,” he said.
Other ministers in the rebel camp are Shambhuraj Desai, Abdul Sattar and Bachchu Kadu. Kadu heads the Prahar Janshakti Party which is part of the Sena-led ruling alliance. Raut also claimed that when the Sena had an alliance with the BJP and had asked that the post of chief minister be rotated between the two parties, Thackeray had Shinde in mind for the top post.
Scores of supporters of rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde assembled near his house in Thane district on Saturday with saffron flags and large portraits of party founder Bal Thackeray and regional strongman Anand Dighe.
Shinde is camping in Guwahati in BJP-ruled Assam with a sizable number of MLAs since June 21 after raising the banner of revolt against Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The rebel group has demanded that the Sena withdraw from the MVA, which also comprises the NCP and Congress, and try to forge an alliance again with one-time ally BJP. Among those who addressed the gathering was Shinde's son Shrikant Shinde, who is Sena MP from Kalyan here and whose Ulhasnagar office was pelted with stones during the day by 8-10 men shouting pro-Thackeray slogans. The Kalyan MP said Sena leaders and ordinary Sainiks suffered a lot at the hands of the NCP after the Maha Vikas Aghadi was formed post the state Assembly polls in late 2019. (PTI)
The Maharashtra legislature secretariat on Saturday issued `summons' to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs including senior minister Eknath Shinde, seeking written replies by the evening of June 27 to the complaints seeking their disqualification.
Signed by Rajendra Bhagwat, principal secretary of the Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, the summons were sent to all 16 MLAs named by the Shiv Sena's chief whip, Sunil Prabhu, in a letter. Prabhu had earlier asked the rebel MLAs of the Shinde faction, who are camping in Guwahati, to attend a party meeting here on Wednesday but none of them turned up. Subsequently, the Sena submitted two letters to the legislature secretariat, seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs including Shinde.The summons issued by Bhagwat on Saturday said that Prabhu had submitted a letter to deputy speaker of the Assembly Narhari Zirwal seeking their disqualification under The Members of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Dis qualification on ground of Defection) Rules, 1986. (PTI)
In the midst of the political turmoil roiling the Shiv Sena and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra, a remarkable analogy has been drawn between Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s tense face-off with his challenger Eknath Shinde and party founder Bal Thackeray’s strained ties with Shinde’s mentor Anand Dighe.
Just like Uddhav and his son Aaditya Thackeray marginalised Shinde in the Sena and government affairs despite the latter’s unofficial No. 2 position in the party, Bal Thackeray also sought to sideline the Thane Sena strongman Dighe after getting wary of his rising popularity. Dighe, who began his career in the Sena from the grass-roots level, died of heart attack in 2001 at the age of 49 after he met with an accident. Read More
Yuva Sena workers on Saturday removed a huge banner of Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde in Nagpur city. The Yuva Sena activists tore down the banner of Shinde which was put up in Gandhi Putla square in the Mahal area. Yuva Sena Nagpur district president Vikram Rathod asked Shinde's supporters to not put up any banners of him in the city. (PTI)
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, while speaking on the political crisis in Maharashtra, said: “Let Maha Vikas Aghadi deliberate over this matter. We are keeping an eye on the drama that is unfolding... It looks like a dance of monkeys.”
Speaking after the national executive meeting, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray said: “You already know what was discussed in the meeting. The important thing is that we will not forget the betrayal done by the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs. We (Shiv Sena) will win for sure.”
Shiv Sena MLA Deepak Kesarkar, speaking on behalf of the rebel MLAs led by Eknath Shinde, said: We are not going to merge with anyone. We will be setting up a separate block of the party. I have always told the CM that the Sena needs to be with the BJP. The synergy between a BJP Prime Minister and the state CM is important for the development of the state. We also want to tell the CM to fulfil his constitutional responsibility and ensure that the violence is. We do not feel safe to return as no action is being taken against the perpetrators.”
Deepak Kesarkar, the spokesperson of rebel leader Eknath Shinde's group, while giving an update after the camp’s meeting today, said: “We have not quit the Shiv Sena as we possess two-thirds majority. We are not going to merge with anyone. We will be setting up a separate block of the party.”
Shiv Sena workers staged a protest against the party's rebel MLAs Tanaji Sawant and Dnyanraj Chougule in Maharashtra's Osmanabad city on Saturday, an official said.
The Sena's group leader in Osmanabad Nagar Parishad Somnath Gurav said, “Sawant and Chougule have joined Eknath Shinde's faction. Sawant was made a minister earlier, Chougule has also won the Assembly elections on Sena ticket.” Development projects worth crores of rupees are underway in their constituency, and the state government-led by Thackeray has provided funds for these projects. If they had anything to say, they should have met the chief minister and told him, Gurav said. “Now it is being heard that Shinde is using Bal Thackeray's name for his group of MLAs. Shinde should use their individual name for it and not Bal Thackeray's. They are not worthy of using the name,” the Sena leader said. (PTI)
The Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly has issued a disqualification notice to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs of the Eknath Shinde camp who are currently camping in Guwahati. They have been given time till June 27 to file their written replies, news agency ANI reported.
Amid the tussle for supremacy in the ruling Shiv Sena between the groups led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and rebel MLA Eknath Shinde, party Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday said she had received some threatening calls over the past couple of days.
She said she had met Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey over the “threat and abusive calls”. “Met Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey @sanjayp_1 ji with regards to threat and abusive calls I have been receiving since yesterday through VoIP calls, over the developing political situation in the state. Thank him for his time and hope to find out who these cowards are,” she said.
A video that went viral on social media on Saturday showed some people damaging the board outside the office of Shrikant Shinde, Lok Sabha MP from Kalyan in Thane district and son of Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde.
It showed some people throwing stones at the Ulhasnagar office of Shrikant Shinde and they can also be heard raising pro-Uddhav Thackeray slogans. In the video, four policemen can be seen chasing away the group, comprising eight to ten persons. Police are at the site and a probe was on, officials said. (PTI)
Speaking at the national executive meeting of the Shiv Sena today, CM Uddhav Thackeray said: “Some people are asking me to say something but I've already said that they (rebel MLAs) can do whatever they want to and I won’t interfere in their matters. They can take their own decision, but no one should use Balasaheb Thackeray's name.”
Following a meeting of the national executive of the Shiv Sena in Mumbai today, a resolution was passed that has the following points:
Amid rising political tension, Mumbai Police on Saturday imposed Section 144 in the city. The Thane District Administration had previously imposed Sec 144 CrPC in the district, which is the stronghold of rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, banning any kind of political procession till June 30.
Several Shiv Sena workers protested against rebel MLAs outside the party office in Khargar. Effigies of rebel leader Eknath Shinde were burnt, according to ANI.
Addressing the controversy around several rebel Shiv Sena leaders camping at a luxury hotel in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said: 'Our job is to provide security, comfort stay to anyone who's come from outside. Tomorrow, even if Congress comes, I will extend the same welcome. I am grateful Shiv Sena came, its the reason Assam's flood was highlighted.'
'We have 200 hotels in Guwahati & all have guests. Would we remove guests stating the flood situation? BJP is supporting (rebel Shiv Sena MLAs) in Maharashtra, I won't get involved,' he added. (ANI)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray arrived at Sena Bhavan in Mumbai for the party's National Executive meeting on Saturday afternoon.
At a meeting held in Guwahati on Saturday, the Eknath Shinde-led faction of rebel Shiv Sena leaders announced that it was naming itself the ‘Shiv Sena Balasaheb Group’.
Union Minister and Republican Party of India president Ramdas Athawale on Friday said that he hadn't thought about forming government amid the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra as yet. "We haven't thought about forming Govt. We'll see what happens in time to come. About Sharad Pawar, Ajit Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray & Sanjay Raut saying that they'll show majority, so many MLAs have left you- 37 from Shiv Sena & 7-8 Independent- how can you say that?" he told reporters.
Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s recent rebellion is reminiscent of a similar revolt in Maharashtra in 1978, then the first of its kind in the state’s political history.
The rebel group then was led by none other than Sharad Pawar, who had succeeded in toppling the Vasantdada Patil government – formed after two splinter groups of Congress had joined hands – and becoming the youngest chief minister at the age of 38. Then Maval MLA Krishnarao Bhegde, now 87, was part of the rebel group.
Recalling the 1978 rebellion, Bhegde said it was the likes of Pawar, Govindrao Adik and Prataprao Bhosale who were in the forefront of the rebellion then. “Today, the split in the Shiv Sena seems to be on the Hindutva issue. Also, the rebel Shiv Sainiks are raising the issue of humiliating treatment by NCP…,” Bhegde said. Read more.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and a number of other BJP leaders arrived at former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' residence in Mumbai on Saturday.
Dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday alleged that the Maharashtra government has withdrawn the security cover provided at the residences of 16 rebel legislators, including himself, and dubbed the action as "political vendetta".
Shinde, who is currently camping in Guwahati with the rebel legislators, tweeted a letter signed by the 16 MLAs that is addressed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil.
In the letter, the legislators said CM Thackeray and the leaders of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance will be responsible if any harm is caused to their family members. In his tweet, Shinde alleged that the security cover of the 16 rebel Sena legislators was withdrawn on the orders of Thackeray and Walse Patil due to "political vendetta". (PTI)
Shiv Sena workers in Pune on Saturday ransacked the office of Sena legislator Tanaji Sawant, who is among the rebel MLAs currently camping in Guwahati, Assam.
"Our party worker vandalised Tanaji Sawant's office. All traitors and rebel MLAs who have troubled our chief Uddhav Thackeray will face this type of action. Their office will also be attacked... No one will be spared," said Pune Shiv Sena head, Sanjay More.
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil denied claims made by rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday that the protection of Shiv Sena MLAs has been withdrawn by the Maharashtra Chief Minister and HMO. “There have been on orders issues either by the CM or the Home Ministry to withdraw the security of any MLA. Allegations being levelled to this effect are mischievous and false,” Patil said.
The Shiv Sena will hold a meeting to discuss the party's future and plans for expansion, senior leader Sanjay Raut said. "Party is very big, & cannot be hijacked with such ease. It's been made with our blood. Several sacrificed to make it. No one can break it with money," he told news agency ANI.
Amid the political crisis in Maharashtra triggered by a rebellion by a large section of Shiv Sena MLAs, who are currently camping in Assam, the NCP on Saturday sought to know who was paying the bills of hotels in Guwahati and Surat.
The Sharad Pawar-led party, which shares power with Sena and Congress in the state, also asked the Income Tax Department and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to find out the source of "black money" involved.
NCP's chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase asked, "Who is paying the bills of hotels in Surat and Guwahati as well as the chartered flight? Is it true that the horsetrading rate is Rs 50 crore?" "If ED and IT get activated, the source of the black money will be exposed," he added. (PTI)
Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Saturday said that the protection of Shiv Sena MLAs has been withdrawn by the Maharashtra Chief Minister and the state’s home minister. The government is responsible for protecting them and their families, he added.
Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has reportedly called for a meeting at Raddison Blu Hotel in Guwahati to discuss further strategy, according to news agency ANI.