Responding to Shiv Sena’s threat to cancel membership, Shiv Sena’s rebel MLA Eknath Shinde has said that “the whip is for the work of the assembly, not for the meeting of the party”.
This came after the Shiv Sena approached the Deputy Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly and demanded that the membership of the rebel MLAs who did not attend the party’s meeting be cancelled.
A total of 13 MLAs attended the meeting held at Matoshree, the residence of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday evening.
Responding to the Shiv Sena leadership’s action, Shinde in a tweet said, “Who are you trying to scare? We know your formulation and law too! As per 10th Schedule of the Constitution (Schedule) the whip is for whom.” ? The business of the Vidhan Sabha, not for meetings. There are several Supreme Court judgments in this regard.”
12.
— Eknath Shinde — (@mieknathshinde) 23 June 2022
Shinde criticized the attempt to cancel his membership and the MLAs who were following him, saying, “You cannot scare us by saying that action will be taken against 12 MLAs. Because we are the real Shiv Sena, Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena.”
He further threatened action against the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and CM Uddhav Thackeray. He accused the Chief Minister of running the government without the required number of MLAs.
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— Eknath Shinde — (@mieknathshinde) 23 June 2022
In the last tweet in the thread, Shinde said, “We are aware of the law, so don’t threaten us. You are running the government even if you don’t have numbers. Now we demand action against you.”
Maharashtra political crisis
The current political crisis was initiated by Minister Eknath Shinde, who along with several MLAs went incommunicado after the MLC election results. The rebel MLAs, led by Shinde, reached a Surat hotel late on Monday, hours after polling, where the BJP won the fifth seat despite not having enough numbers in the assembly. Some MLAs of Shiv Sena and Congress reportedly voted in favor of BJP candidates.
The Shiv Sena-led alliance, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), which also includes the NCP and the Congress, is making a brave front by claiming the return of the rebels.
The total strength of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is 287 and in the event of a trust vote, the majority is 144. The ruling alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress has 169 seats. If the Shinde-led MLAs resign, the strength of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will fall below the majority mark, leading to a possible collapse of the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
Shinde has been removed from the post of Legislature Party leader after the ‘revolt’ and the rebel MLAs are currently camping in a hotel in Guwahati.