Maharashtra political crisis: Eknath Shinde with 33 Sena MLAs, 7 Independents leaves Gujarat for Assam

The political crisis is continuing in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. On June 22 morning, Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde, along with 33 party MLAs and seven independent MLAs who were staying at the Le Meridien hotel in Surat, flew from Surat International Airport to Guwahati, Assam. This follows allegations of cross-voting in Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) elections, in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won five seats, handing the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance government led by Shiv Sena a huge setback.

The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena each won two seats, while Congress won one of the ten seats in the Legislative Council that were up for election on Monday.

Shinde, along with a few other Shiv Sena MLAs, stayed at the Le Meridien hotel in Surat after the MLC elections.

In Surat, a Shiv Sena group led by Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak, close aides to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, met with Shinde and other party MPs.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut acknowledged on Tuesday that some Shiv Sena MLAs and Eknath Shinde were currently "not approachable," despite allegations that efforts were being undertaken to topple the MVA government. Shiv Sena MLAs were in Surat, he claimed, and they were not permitted to leave.

In the midst of the controversy, Shinde tweeted a veiled jab at the Shiv Sena for teaming up with the Congress and the NCP to establish the state government, "We are Balasaheb's staunch Shiv Sainiks ... Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva. We have never and will never cheat for power regarding Balasaheb's thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb's teachings." Shinde has also dropped "Shiv Sena" from his Twitter bio.

After the Shiv Sena split from the BJP in 2014, he was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly. Shinde was nominated to the MVA government's cabinet as a minister.

But he has been feeling marginalised since the MVA government was formed, according to sources. Shrikant Shinde, his son, is a Lok Sabha member from Kalyan. In the midst of this, Shiv Sena representatives met with Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and presented him a letter requesting that Eknath Shinde be removed from his position as Shiv Sena Legislative Party Leader and replaced by Ajay Chaudhary.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra BJP head Chandrakant Patil said that the state government is now "technically" in "minority" due to the departure of Eknath Shinde and other Shiv Sena MLAs.

He stated that the BJP was currently in a "wait and watch" mode, and that neither the BJP nor Shinde had made any proposals on government formation.

"BJP got support from independents and small political parties for Rajya Sabha and MLC elections. As per our information, Eknath Shinde and 35 MLAs have gone. This means technically state government is in minority but practically it will take some time for the government to be in minority," he said.

"It's too early to say anything, we are currently waiting and keeping an eye on the situation. So far, there has not been any proposal regarding government formation neither from the BJP nor from Eknath Shinde but anything can happen in politics at any time," the BJP leader added.

The BJP and the Shiv Sena used to be allies until 2019, when they split over the question of the chief ministerial office after contesting the Maharashtra Assembly elections jointly. Following days of political gridlock and high-octane drama, the Shiv Sena, along with the Congress and the NCP, created the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance government, led by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

(With inputs from agencies)

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