Sena MLC joins rebels 2 days after he spoke to them as CM’s envoy

Shiv Sena MLC Ravindra Phatak, who was one of two envoys sent by CM Uddhav Thackeray to Surat Tuesday to hold talks with rebel MLAs, flew to Guwahati  on Thursday along with two other Sena lawmakers to join the rebel camp led by Eknath Shinde.

MLAs Sanjay Rathod and Dadaji Bhuse were the two lawmakers who flew with Phatak on a chartered flight from Surat to Guwahati. Bhuse is a minister in the MVA government.

On Tuesday, Thackeray had sent his personal secretary Milind Narvekar as well as Phatak to talk to Shinde’s camp at a hotel in Surat. The talks did not provide a breakthrough, and they both returned to Mumbai the same day.