Mumbai: With 42 of 55 party MLAs believed to have risen in rebellion and joined Eknath Shinde in Guwahati, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Thursday made a desperate bid to avert a crisis, offering to even walk out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra.
Rebel leader Shinde has cited Thackeray’s decision to ally with ideological adversaries, the Congress and the NCP, as the reason for raising the banner of revolt. The rebel MLAs want Thackeray to renew Sena’s alliance with former partner BJP.
Shiv Sena MP and party spokesperson Sanjay Raut said in a press conference Thursday that “whatever (the MLAs’) demands are will be heard but they need to come to Mumbai within 24 hours”.
“If need be, we can get out of the government but they need to come to Mumbai and put forth their demands,” he added.
At noon, when Maharashtra Chief Minister Thackeray called for a meeting of his MLAs, sources told ThePrint that only 13 were present for the meeting.
The Shinde camp, meanwhile, put out visuals from Guwahati that they claimed showed 42 MLAs gathered at a hotel.
Going by the numbers, the rebel faction can stake claim to being the “real Shiv Sena” as it appears to have more than two-thirds of the party MLAs (37 of 55) on its side to avoid getting caught under the anti-defection law.
Also read: Will quit as CM if you want but tell me directly, defiant Uddhav tells rebel Shiv Sena MLAs
Waiting for Shinde’s move
Shinde, who has been saying that he hasn’t quit the Shiv Sena, is expected to submit a letter to the governor — who is currently sick with Covid — to prove he has the numbers.
If his faction of the Sena, with the numbers it claims to have, decides to support the BJP, which has 106 MLAs of its own, the two parties will together cross the majority mark of 145 seats in the 288-seat assembly and can stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra.
The MVA, meanwhile, has the NCP’s 53 MLAs, the Congress’ 44 and Sena’s 13. Given the way this month’s Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Parishad elections, the MVA cannot be sure of support from smaller parties and Independents who voted for the BJP.
Early Thursday, the exodus of MLAs from Mumbai to Guwahati continued. Two Sena legislators — Sada Sarvankar and Mangesh Kudalkar — joined senior leader Deepak Kesarkar and left for BJP-ruled Assam.
On more MLAs leaving Mumbai, Raut told ThePrint: “Let them go, but they will have to come to Mumbai to prove their numbers. We will see then.”
Raut has also said that the Sena is in touch with 22 MLAs from Shinde’s camp who want to return to Mumbai.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also read: ‘Sena will rise again’ — Sanjay Raut blames rebellion on BJP’s ‘use of ED & CBI’ against rivals