NCP president Sharad Pawar said the fate of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra will be decided on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, and the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress coalition will prove its majority in a trust vote.
He was addressing a press conference amid the crisis caused by the rebellion by Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde and several Shiv Sena MLAs.
Pawar claimed the BJP has played a role in the crisis that has befallen the Uddhav Thackeray-led government.
“The fate of the MVA government will be decided in the Assembly, not in Guwahati (where the rebels are camping). The MVA will prove its majority on the floor of the House,” he said.
Meanwhile a meeting of Shiv Sena will be held today at Sena Bhavan in Mumbai. The district heads (Zilla Pramukhs) of the party are summoned. This came a day after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a meeting of Mumbai Sampark Pramukhs.
Two more Shiv Sena MLAs Sanjay Rathore and Dadaji Bhuse and one MLC Ravindra Fhatak have arrived in Assam’s capital city Guwahati to join rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde camp.
In another development Shiv Sena leader Arvind Sawant reportedly said a whip was issued to MLAs. Since they didn’t obey and gave prior notice. We have received replies. So we have brought those replies to the notice of the Vidhan Bhavan. Twelve names are there in the petition submitted to Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker. Membership of Eknath Shinde, Balaji Kinikar, Lata Sonawane and Bharat Gogawle among 12 others should be cancelled. We have asked the Deputy Speaker to take action against these 12, he said.
If someone’s dreaming of forming a new government, it is their fault. Sena has weathered many storms. The history of rebellions tells us that those who rebelled were brought down by the Shiv Sainiks. The Shiv Sainiks can turn these rebels from current MLAs to ex-MLAs, he said.
Meanwhile, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde remained defiant and insisted the party should walk out of “unnatural” ruling alliance MVA and claimed support of “enough number” of MLAs.
After reaching out to Shiv Sena dissidents with an emotional appeal and offering to quit, Thackeray vacated his office residence. The CM moved out of ‘Varsha’, his official residence in south Mumbai, and shifted to Matoshri, the private bungalow of the Thackeray family in suburban Bandra.
