Despite being reduced to a minority, Team Thackeray has maintained that it will win in the event of a trust vote.
Mumbai: According to sources, Uddhav Thackeray is in contact with at least 20 MLAs who are camped out with rebel leader Eknath Shinde. Some of the rebels are opposed to a merger with the BJP, NDTV has also learned.
Eknath Shinde and other renegade ministers will be the target of Shiv Sena retaliation as well. Eknath Shinde, Gulabrao Patil, and Dada Bhuse, ministers, are reportedly in line to lose their positions. Action is also likely to be taken against Ministers of State Abdul Sattar and Shamburaje Desai.
Team Thackeray, although being in the minority, has rejected Mr. Shinde’s allegation that he will contest the party symbol.
Regarding efforts to combine the organization with the BJP, disagreements have also surfaced within the Eknath Shinde camp. Additionally, Mr. Shinde has the choice of joining forces with the Maharashtra Minister Bachchu Kadu-led Prahar Janshakti Party, whose leader is already camped out with the insurgents in Guwahati.
After Thackerays’ supporters staged protests and vandalized several of the rebel MLAs’ offices in various parts of the state, the center upped security coverage for 15 Shiv Sena rebel MLAs.
Sanjay Raut, a spokesperson for Sena, attacked the rebels camped in BJP-controlled Assam this morning. In a tweet that featured a photograph of Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, who had sent letters to 16 rebel MLAs on the Sena disqualification plea, he posed the question, “How long will you hide in Guwahati.”
Last night, Eknath Shinde took a special airplane from Assam’s Guwahati, where he is camped out with around 40 dissident MLAs, to Vadodara. According to those with intimate knowledge of the situation, Home Minister Amit Shah was also in Vadodara last night.
Mr. Shinde left Mr. Fadnavis’ office and went back to Assam’s capital, which is governed by the BJP. Mr. Shinde and the rebels want to forge an alliance with their old partner, the BJP, which they assert is the Sena’s “natural ally.” “They are historically our main competitors in the electorate, together with the NCP and Congress. We asked CM Uddhav Thackeray to create a natural alliance, “according to a video shared by Eknath Shinde featuring rebel MLA Chimanrao Patil.
The rebels assert that they have a two-thirds majority and have stated that they remain members of the Shiv Sena. Deepak Kesarkar, a rebellious MLA, went on to demand that their organization, the “Shiv Sena Balasaheb,” be recognized and threatened to sue if it wasn’t done. He also disputed that the BJP was behind their uprising.
At the National Executive meeting, which was presided over by Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday, the Shiv Sena approved six proposals. Mr. Thackeray was given permission to take action against the rebels at the meeting at Sena Bhavan. In a letter to the Election Commission, his team contested the rebels’ decision to adopt the name “Shiv Sena Balasaheb Thackeray.”
On Saturday, cadres loyal to the Thackerays staged demonstrations against the rebels by defacing their banners, hurling stones, and vandalizing the office of an MLA in various parts of the state. This was part of the ongoing struggle between Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde for control of the Shiv Sena.
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