Mumbai: The Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra — a coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress — is staring at a crisis, with at least one-and-a-half dozen Shiv Sena MLAs indicating unhappiness with the government and having shifted to a luxury hotel in Gujarat’s Surat district, according to MVA sources. The MLAs are led by senior Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra urban development minister, Eknath Shinde, who according to sources, has been disgruntled with the government because he felt sidelined.
Elections to 10 legislative council seats in the state were held Monday, in which the BJP, with 106 MLAs in the assembly, received a total of 134 votes for its five candidates, by securing votes from independent members, smaller parties, as well as some votes from the MVA camp.
Two candidates, each from the Shiv Sena and NCP won, while the Congress managed to bag just one seat.
While Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs, NCP has 51 (since two of its MLAs Nawab Malik and Anil Deshmukh are in judicial custody and facing trial for separate money laundering cases, and were not allowed to cast their votes) and Congress 44 MLAs. But the results of the legislative council elections indicated cross voting by at least three MLAs each from MVA partners Shiv Sena and Congress, and a few more from its smaller alliance partners.
If the BJP retains its members in the assembly, and if the disgruntled Shiv Sena MLAs join rank with the opposition, the BJP — with the support of independents and smaller parties — can cross the 144 majority mark in the Maharashtra assembly.
Speaking to the media Tuesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, said, “Eknath Shinde was with us till yesterday. He was trying for MVA candidate ‘s win. I will be able to speak only after I get in touch with him.”
Meanwhile, CM Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of all Sena MLAs at Varsha bungalow, the CM’s official residence at 12 noon, the same time that Shinde is expected to address the media in Surat.
Even as the Sena battles disgruntlement among members, alliance partner Congress is also worried about its flock. A meeting of party MLAs in Mumbai, called by Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat, is currently underway.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar, who is known as architect of MVA government, is in Delhi currently for a meeting to decide the opposition’s presidential candidate for next month’s election and deputy CM Ajit Pawar and NCP Maharashtra chief Jayant Patil are expected to meet him in the afternoon.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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