Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde claims support of forty MLAs

Senior Shiv Sena leader and state cabinet minister Eknath Shinde has rebelled against Uddhav Thackeray leadership.

According to the media reports, Shinde has claimed the support of 40 Shiv Sena MLAs out of a total of 55 and took some of them to BJP-ruled Gujarat. They were reportedly shifted to Guwahati in Assam from Surat on Wednesday morning.

Hours after the BJP trumped the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls on Monday night, Shinde, the State's Urban Development Minister and the Shiv Sena's legislative party leader, left Mumbai along with a group of MLAs for Surat in Gujarat. The Sena, in a swift move, removed him from his post as the legislative party leader and appointed Ajay Chaudhari, an MLA from Mumbai's Sewri area, to the position.

Shinde reportedly asked the Sena leadership to not continue with the MVA and instead form the government with the BJP.

The anti-defection law mandates that if two-thirds of the strength of a party agrees to a "merger", they will not face disqualification proceedings. At present, the Sena's current strength in the Assembly is 55 MLAs. If the rebels want to merge with BJP, 37 MLAs (two-thirds of 55) have to come together to ensure they do not face disqualification proceedings under the anti-defection law.

The Shiv Sena, which heads the tripartite MVA government in Maharashtra, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-assembly. The current simple majority mark is 144.

Shinde tweeted on Tuesday afternoon, remembering the late Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray, and his [Shinde's] mentor, the late Anand Dighe. "We are staunch Shiv Sainiks of Balasaheb. Balasaheb taught us Hindutva. We will never betray Balasaheb's thoughts and Dharmaveer Anand Dighe's teachings for the sake of power," Shinde tweeted, hinting his slant towards the BJP.

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