As the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra is facing an existential crisis, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde met BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis in Gujarat’s Vadodara city last night, according to sources. After the meeting, Shinde flew back to Guwahati, the capital of Assam, where most of his loyalists are camping.
Shinde, a minister in the Thackeray cabinet and a veteran of Thane district, rebelled against the Shiv Sena, pushing the MVA coalition government, in which the NCP and Congress also share power, to the brink of collapse. The disgruntled leader has claimed the support of 37 MLAs and 10 independents, and all of them are currently in Guwahati. Shinde has also claimed that the faction led by him is the “real Shiv Sena”. However, party leader Sanjay Raut has made it clear that the fate of the MVA government will be decided in the House.
Here are the top developments of the day in the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra:
The fight between truth and lies
Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray has said the current turmoil in the party that was born out of Shinde’s rebellion is a fight between “truth and lies”. Talking to reporters after joining the National Executive of Shiv Sena, he said, “We will win and truth will prevail.” It is a fight between truth and lies.”
Aaditya, who is the son of Shiv Sena president and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, held a meeting with Shiv Sena workers from south Mumbai to rally the party cadre. Elections to the Shiv Sena-controlled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) are expected to be held later this year.
The Mumbai civic polls are crucial for the Shiv Sena, which considers Mumbai as its stronghold.
‘No other organization can use Bal Thackeray’s name’
The National Executive of Shiv Sena today authorized Uddhav Thackeray to take action against the rebel MLAs of the state. The party passed six resolutions, in one of which it barred any other political organization or faction from using the names of Shiv Sena and its founder, the late Bal Thackeray. The announcement was in response to the Shinde faction, which earlier in the day claimed to have named itself ‘Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)’.
“Balasaheb (Thackeray) and Shiv Sena are two sides of the same coin and no one except Shiv Sena can use his name,” read a resolution.
Talking to reporters, Raut said, “The executive decided that Shiv Sena belongs to Bal Thackeray and is committed to taking forward his radical ideology of Hindutva and Marathi pride. Shiv Sena will never deviate from this path. It passed a resolution, giving Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray full authority to take action against those who betrayed the party.
Raut said that other proposals include congratulating Uddhav Thackeray for efficiently leading Maharashtra during the Covid-19 pandemic and the development work done in the last two-and-a-half years.
The National Executive condemned the rebel MLAs and said that Shiv Sena is with Uddhav Thackeray. The executive also resolved that the party would contest and win all the upcoming local body elections.
Notably, Shiv Sena stalwarts Anant Geete and Ramdas Kadam, who are members of the national executive, were absent from the meeting.
‘Didn’t leave the party’
Meanwhile, the Shinde-led faction said they have not quit the party, but indicated that they would work in the Maharashtra Assembly as a separate group by the name of ‘Shiv Sena (Balasaheb)’. Rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar said that since he has a two-thirds majority, Shinde is the leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party.
He further said, the reason for the rift with party chief Uddhav Thackeray was his decision to end the alliance with BJP and join hands with NCP and Congress in 2019. The Shiv Sena’s rebel faction will challenge the order of Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Jirwal to replace Shinde as the leader of the Shiv Sena group.
“Our faction should be recognized, if it is not given, we will go to court and prove our existence and numbers. We have numbers, but we respect CM Uddhav Thackeray, we will not speak against him. We should follow the path on which we fought the assembly elections,” he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Our faction should be recognized, if it is not given we will go to court and prove our existence and numbers. We have numbers, but we respect CM Uddhav Thackeray, we will not speak against him. We should follow the path on which we fought assembly elections: Rebel MLA Deepak Kesarkar pic.twitter.com/QVgkLs5Wss
— ANI (@ANI) 25 June 2022
Denying allegations of party kidnapping and answering a question whether the rebel group will withdraw support to the Thackeray-led government, Kesarkar said, “Why should we withdraw support? We are Shiv Sena. We have not hijacked the party, NCP and Congress have hijacked it.
Will the rebel ministers have to lose their posts?
Raut said the rebel ministers in the Shinde camp would lose their posts in 24 hours. Talking to a Marathi news channel, he said, “The process of removing him is on.” “Ministers like Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sandipan Bhumre were considered loyal workers of Shiv Sena, who were made cabinet ministers by Uddhav Thackeray… the party has given them enough. He has taken the wrong path and will lose his post in 24 hours.
The other ministers of the rebel camp are Shambhuraj Desai, Abdul Sattar and Bacchu Kadu. Kadu Prahar heads the Janshakti Party which is part of the ruling coalition led by Shiv Sena.
Meanwhile, Raut also said that half of the rebel MLAs have nothing to do with Hindutva ideology but are facing Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe.
16 rebels sent disqualification notices
The Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly has given disqualification notices to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs belonging to Shinde’s camp. Shiv Sena submitted two letters to the legislature secretariat, seeking disqualification of 16 MLAs, including Shinde, nominated by Shiv Sena chief whip Sunil Prabhu. The summons issued by Rajendra Bhagwat, Principal Secretary, Maharashtra Vidhan Bhavan, states that Prabhu had submitted a letter to the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Narhari Jirwal, seeking his disqualification under the Members of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on the ground of defection) Rules, 1986. was done.
The Maharashtra Assembly Secretariat has issued summons to 16 rebel Shiv Sena MLAs and sought a written reply by the evening of June 27 on their disqualification complaints.
“In your defense of summons, you are required to submit your written response along with all necessary documents before 5.30 PM on 27th June (Monday). If the written reply to the summons is not submitted within the stipulated period, it shall be deemed that you have no right over it. Based on the complaint lodged by Prabhu against you, the office will initiate necessary action.
The Shinde-led group has reiterated that Prabhu has been replaced as party whip by Bharat Gogawale due to the support of more than two-thirds of Shiv Sena MLAs.
(with inputs from PTI)
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