As Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray struggles to retain control of his government and the party, a national executive meeting of the Sena will be held on Saturday which is likely to pass a resolution reposing faith on the leadership of Thackeray.
The rebellion against the tripartite Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by the Sena’s second-in-command Eknath Shinde threatens to capture not only the government but also the party and the Thackerays are now fighting on two fronts.
The number of rebel MLAs stationed in Guwahati however continued to grow on Friday as the Shinde group claimed the support of 50 MLAs, including those of the Sena and Independents.
On Friday evening, Mr. Thackeray held a meeting with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and a party delegation to discuss the possible strategy to save the government. Both allies, the NCP and the Congress, have extended absolute support to Mr. Thackeray. But the meeting of NCP leaders with the CM is said to have debated options to save the government and also the possibility of a resignation from the top post.
Earlier in the day, addressing party office bearers, Mr. Thackeray dared the rebel MLAs to survive politically without using the photograph of Sena founder, the late Bal Thackeray, and the party’s name. Resolving to fight, Mr. Uddhav Thackeray told the party workers that he has no greed for power, but had not lost the determination to fight.
According to sources from the rebel camp, Mr. Shinde is now aiming to take over the entire party within the legislature, but his efforts faced a hurdle after Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal approved Ajay Chaudhary as the Sena’s legislative party leader replacing Mr. Shinde.
The Shinde group held a meeting in the Guwahati hotel where they are stationed and decided to move a no-confidence motion against Mr. Zirwal, following which two BJP-backed Independent MLAs wrote to Mr. Zirwal claiming he has no authority to disqualify any MLA.
The rebellion by Mr. Shinde is most significant in the outfit’s 56-year-old history as it threatens to bring down the party-led government in Maharashtra, while the other revolts took place when it was not in power in the State.
Here are the latest updates
NCP chief meets Uddhav Thackeray at ‘Matoshree’
NCP president Sharad Pawar on Friday evening met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence amid the political crisis caused by Sena leader Eknath Shinde's rebellion.
State NCP president Jayant Patil and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar accompanied M. Pawar as he arrived at `Matoshree', Thackeray's private residence in Bandra area.
A day before, Ajit Pawar had said the NCP will do all it can to save the ruling alliance of the Sena, NCP and Congress.
Sharad Pawar had made it clear that the fate of the coalition government will be decided on the floor of the Maharashtra Assembly and not at a hotel in Guwahati where Eknath Shinde and his supporters are camping. - PTI
‘Your presence defaming Assam’: Congress leader to Eknath Shinde
The Assam unit of the Congress on June 24 staged demonstrations near a luxury hotel where rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and other Maharashtra MLAs accompanying him are staying demanding that they leave the State as it is reeling under a devastating flood.
Assam Congress chief Bhupen Bora also wrote a letter to Mr. Shinde telling him that their presence at such a critical juncture has "defamed" the State.
Congress leaders were not allowed to enter the hotel and a police official deployed there was requested to hand over the letter to the Sena leader. - PTI
No national party in contact with us: Eknath Shinde
A day after claiming that a “powerful national party” was supporting his group of MLAs in the ongoing political drama in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde on Friday said no national party is in contact with them.
Asked if BJP was backing his group, Mr. Shinde told a TV channel, “When I said a big power is backing us, I meant the power of Balasaheb Thackeray and (late Shiv Sena leader) Anand Dighe.” Responding to a query on when will the political crisis in Maharashtra end, Mr. Shinde, a Minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the State, said things will be clear after some time.
“Out of 55 Shiv Sena MLAs, 40 have come with me to Guwahati. In a democracy, the majority and numbers count. So nobody has the right to take any action against us,” Mr. Shinde said, when asked about the Sena approaching the Assembly Deputy Speaker for action against the rebel MLAs. -PTI
Two pro-BJP independent MLAs demand removal of Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker
Two pro-BJP independent legislators in Maharashtra - Yogesh Baldi and Vinod Agrawal - objected to Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal’s approval to the appointment of Shiv Sena MLA Ajay Chaudhary as the party’s new group leader in the House.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Baldi said, “The deputy speaker cannot take such a decision as it is the prerogative of the Assembly Speaker. We will soon initiate legal steps regarding the same.” However, former principal secretary to Vidhan Bhavan, Dr. Anant Kalse, said, “Article 180 of the Constitution has clearly stated that the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly can take decisions if the post of the Speaker is vacant. I am not sure the demand of these independents can stand in the court.” The post of the State assembly speaker has been lying vacant since February 2021 when Congress leader Nana Patole was appointed as the party’s State unit chief.
Mr. Zirwal has approved the appointment of Ajay Chaudhary in place of Eknath Shinde. -PTI
‘Uddhav Thackeray took everyone along with him in the last 2.5 years,’ says Ajit Pawar
Backing the leadership of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, “Mr. Thackeray took everyone along with him in the last 2.5 years.”
“He routinely featured in lists of best Chief Ministers in the country. These lists were not prepared by us. So, they indicated that the MVA govt. was doing good work. Mr. Thackeray adroitly faced all challenges while giving satisfactory answers to problems faced by the MVA govt. in this period. The NCP and Congress supported him fully in his work. I don’t think he has neglected his own MLAs in the process of ‘managing’ the NCP and the Congress.” -Shoumojit Banerjee
I have left CM’s bungalow, not my determination, says Uddhav amid rebellion in Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday reached out to the functionaries of his party and sought to allay fears surrounding the survival of his political outfit and the MVA government.
“Despite the rebellions that the party has faced earlier, it came to power twice. I may have left ‘Varsha’, the Chief Minister’s official residence, but not my determination,” he said.
Mr. Thackeray added that in the last two-and-a-half years, he battled the COVID 19 pandemic as well as his own ill-health, but opponents took advantage of this situation. -PTI
All ‘tourists’ are welcome in Assam, says CM Himanta on Maharashtra MLAs camping in Guwahati
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma sought to downplay the camping of Maharashtra’s rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in his state saying all “tourists” are welcome there.
“Some people have come to Assam. They booked hotels. I am happy for that. You also come, it will help Assam’s economy. Through this, Assam’s tourism is also getting promoted,” he said.
When asked whether the Shiv Sena MLAs were kept as a “hostage” in Assam, Mr. Sarma said: “What kind of hostage? They are in a hotel. They are happy. They are our guests. Generally we just see whether everyone visiting Assam is comfortable” -PTI
Tejashwi Yadav blames BJP for Maharashtra political crisis
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday squarely blamed BJP’s “dictatorial” ambition of “hijacking” the entire country for the ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra.
“It is well known that the BJP does not let any government opposed to it function in peace. It tries to topple such regimes by hook or by crook”, the Bihar Leader of the Opposition alleged. “BJP wants to hijack every State where it is not in power. It is an attitude of tanashahi (dictatorship)”, alleged Mr. Yadav who was stripped of power in 2017 when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar abruptly snapped ties with his RJD and returned to the NDA fold. -PTI
Amid MVA’s survival crisis, Maharashtra govt. depts headed by Sena allies NCP, Cong. issue GRs for sanction of funds worth crores
Even as the Shiv Sena-led MVA dispensation is currently facing a survival crisis due to a rebellion by Sena minister Eknath Shinde, the state departments - mostly controlled by ruling allies NCP and Congress - have issued government orders for the release of funds worth thousands of crores in the last four days for various development-related works.
Between June 20 and 23, the departments issued as many as 182 government resolutions (GRs), while on June 17, they passed 107 such GRs. These orders can be seen on the government’s official website. Technically, these are called government resolutions or GRs, which are essentially an approval order sanctioning release of funds for development related works. However, the opposition BJP sought Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s intervention to curb the “rush of GRs” seen over the past few days, which it termed as “suspicious”. -PTI
Another Sena leader reaches Guwahati
Another Shiv Sena MLA Dilip Lande reached Guwahati on Friday. -Alok Deshpande
Deputy Speaker approves Ajay Chaudhary as the new legislature party leader
Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra assembly approves Ajay Chaudhary as the new legislative party leader of Shiv Sena. Eknath Shinde had objected Chaudhary’s appointment. -Alok Deshpande
Sena’s count in Assembly has gone down, but we are confident of rebels supporting MVA in floor test: Raut
In the wake of Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde’s rebellion, MP Sanjay Raut on Friday admitted that the party’s numbers in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly have dwindled, but expressed confidence that the rebel MLAs will support the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine during the floor test, saying that “figures can change any time”.
He said the rebel MLAs will face the real test of their loyalty towards the party when they return to Mumbai. -PTI
Maharashtra BJP president says BJP has no role in what is happening in the State
BJP State President Chandrakant Patil on Shiv Sena Minister Eknath Shinde’s intra-party rebellion said, “BJP has no relation with what is happening in Maharashtra. We are going about with our routine work.” He added, “There are many national parties in the country. Only Mr. Shinde knows which one he is referring to.” -Shoumojit Banerjee
We are real Shiv Sena, who are you trying to scare: Party rebel Eknath Shinde on disqualification demand
With the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray seeking cancellation of membership of several rebel MLAs, minister Eknath Shinde, who has spearheaded the revolt against the party, has claimed that the group led by him is the “real Shiv Sena”, and also hit back saying he and his supporters will not be intimidated by the disqualification threats.
In a series of tweets posted late Thursday night, Mr. Shinde who is camping in Guwahati along with 37 Sena legislators and 10 independents, said as per the 10th Schedule of the Constitution, a party whip is issued for the legislature proceedings and not for attending a meeting. -PTI
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