Amid the intensifying political turmoil in Maharashtra, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde met senior BJP leader and former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss possible government formation in the state, reports said. The two leaders reportedly met in Gujarat's Vadodara on Friday night.
After the meeting, Shinde returned to Assam's capital Guwahati where he, along with nearly 40 rebel MLAs, has been camping at a luxury hotel for the last three days.
Shinde and his loyalists are demanding that the Shiv Sena walk out of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government and form alliance with the BJP. Sena supremo and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has out-rightly rejected the demands and threatened action against the rebel leaders.
The Sena has already requested Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal to disqualify 16 MLAs. In another setback to the Shinde camp, the Deputy Speaker rejected a no-confidence motion moved by them.
The rebel leaders on Saturday said they have not left the party, but indicated that they will act as a separate group in the Maharashtra Assembly under the name `Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)'. Deepak Kesarkar, spokesperson of the rebel group, said they have two thirds majority and hence Shinde remains the leader of the Sena legislature group, and reiterated that the reason of rift with party chief Uddhav Thackeray was his decision to end the alliance with the BJP and join hands with the NCP and Congress in 2019.
Meanwhile, the national executive committee of the Sena which met in Mumbai on Saturday, authorised Thackeray to take action against "those who have betrayed the party". Six resolutions were cleared at the meeting, including the one that no other political outfit or faction can use the name Shiv Sena and the name of its founder, late Bal Thackeray.
The Thackeray-led state government, in which the Congress and the NCP are the two other alliance partners, has been teetering ever since Shinde raised the banner of revolt on Monday night soon after the results of the Legislative Council polls were announced. Shinde left Mumbai along with a sizable number of MLAs and camped in Surat before leaving for Guwahati.
In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, Shiv Sena has 55 MLAS, NCP (53), Congress (44), Bahujan Vikas Agahdi (three), Samajwadi Party, AIMIM and Prahar Janshakti Party two each. MNS, CPI-M, PWP, Swabhimani Paksha, Rashtriya Samaj Party, Jansurajya Shakti Party and Krantikari Shetkari Paksha have one MLA each. There are 13 independent MLAs. The opposition BJP has 106 MLAs.
