Uddhav fights for survival as Sena leader Shinde rebels

MUMBAI/SURAT: Maharashtra’s ruling alliance on Tuesday battled its worst crisis since coming into existence in 2019 after senior Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde rebelled against the party and herded some MLAs to BJP-ruled Gujarat, putting a huge question mark on the stability of the two-and-a-half-year old Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray launched a damage control exercise and sent an emissary to Surat, where Shinde is camping with dissident Sena MLAs in a hotel, to meet the rebel leader and also spoke to him over the phone to try defuse the crisis, which erupted hours after the Legislative Council polls, which saw the opposition BJP managing to get its fifth candidate elected, possibly due to cross-voting in its favour from the ruling bloc besides support from Independents and MLAs of other parties.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed 14 to 15 Sena MLAs, including some ministers, are with Shinde in Surat.

Another party leader said the number could be 23.

Raut alleged two of the MLAs, including Nitin Deshmukh, have been beaten up and he has suffered a heart attack. The Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-strong Assembly.

Cong deputes Kamal Nath as observer

Amid unrest in the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, the Congress on Tuesday deputed its senior leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath as AICC observer in the state.

Cabinet ministers Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan of the Congress met Thackeray, who heads the Shiv Sena, at his official residence ‘Varsha’ in south Mumbai, where state NCP president and minister Jayant Patil was also present.

All eyes are on NCP president Sharad Pawar, the chief architect of the Shiv Sena-led ruling coalition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) who is likely to arrive in Mumbai soon from New Delhi, where earlier in the day he convened a crucial meeting of opposition parties to decide on a common candidate for the next month’s presidential polls.

Renew alliance with BJP: Shinde

A 10-minute telephone conversation between Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and Sena rebel Eknath Shinde Tuesday evening failed to suggest a way out of the impasse.Shinde’s demand, if anything, only confirmed rift, sources indicated.

Shinde spoke to the Chief Minister from the phone of Milind Narvekar, one of the Sena emissaries who met him at the Surat hotel.

Claiming he has not taken any decision or signed any document, Shinde said he has taken this step for the betterment of the party.

When Uddhav asked him to reconsider and return to the fold, Shinde demanded the Sena renew its alliance with BJP and jointly rule Maharashtra, sources said.

“Balasaheb taught us Hindutva. We’ve never and will never cheat for power regarding Balasaheb’s thoughts...,” read his tweet before he flew to Gujarat.