Mumbai: The Maharashtra administration of Uddhav Thackeray appears to be in disarray after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde and some of his party’s MLAs went missing and camped in Surat a day after suspected cross-voting in MLC votes, casting doubt on the MVA dispensation’s stability. After his mutiny caused political chaos, the party replaced Shinde as Legislative Party Leader.
While the development has sparked frantic political debate in the state, the Shiv Sena and the Congress have ruled out any threat to the MVA administration, with Sanjay Raut claiming that the BJP’s efforts to destabilise the coalition will be in vain.
According to reports, only 20 MLAs out of a total 55 Shiv Sena legislators have gathered outside the Sena Bhavan. As many as 26 legislators are believed to be with Eknath Shinde.
As Shinde has yet to state his position, Maharashtra BJP leader Chandrakant Patil ruled out any connection between his party and the current political developments, but added that the BJP would “certainly consider” a proposal to form a government if it came from Shinde.
Sharad Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), stated in a statement in Delhi that an attempt is being made to destabilise the Maharashtra administration for the third time. He further stated that the incident, which is a Sena internal affair, will be handled by Uddhav Thackeray.
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