Uddhav Thackeray spoke shortly after 30 Shiv Sena MLAs wrote to the Governor backing rebel Eknath Shinde as their leader.
Mumbai: In his first speech following the explosion of a rebel crisis in his party two days ago, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared that he would “not fight for the chair” and that his party Shiv Sena “would never give up Hindutva.”
In a new after his Emotinal Speech, Eknath Shinde, has said that it is his call to resign from CM’s post
“I will resign if even one MLA objects to me as Chief Minister. I am keeping my resignation letter ready. You tell me you want me to resign,” Uddhav Thackeray said.
Mr Thackeray spoke shortly after 30 Shiv Sena MLAs wrote to the Governor backing rebel Eknath Shinde as their leader.The letter claimed that Bharat Gogavle, a member of the renegade faction, had been appointed Chief Whip and that they were “still with Shiv Sena,” kicking off the major controversy about which of the two Senas is the actual one.
The opposition claimed that Sunil Prabhu, the chief whip nomination of Uddhav Thackeray, was “cancelled” by the new appointment.
As Eknath Shinde, the man in charge, disregarded Uddhav Thackeray’s order to MLAs for a “5 pm meeting,” his control over the party started by his father Bal Thackeray appeared to further wane.
The renegade MLAs maintained that the meeting was “illegal” since Sunil Prabhu, who is no longer the party’s Chief Whip, convened it.
Earlier today, he had asked his party MLAs to attend a meeting at his home at that time and warned that a no-show would mean expulsion.
The 34 signatories to the letter include four independent MLAs.
In order to split the party without running the risk of being disqualified under the anti-defection rule, Eknath Shinde needs seven more Shiv Sena MLAs in addition to his current total of 30.
This evening, Chandrakant Patil, the leader of the Maharashtra BJP, accompanied four more Sena MLAs as they boarded a flight for Guwahati.
On Monday night, Mr. Shinde vanished from the Shiv Sena after flying to Surat in Gujarat, which the BJP controls, with 21 MLAs.
Mr. Shinde and his gang of MLAs flew to Assam, another BJP-ruled state, and checked into a five-star hotel in Guwahati hours after Uddhav Thackeray called him and pleaded with him to put an end to their uprising.
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