Maharashtra Political Crisis: Can't scare us, says Shinde after Sena demands disqualification of rebel MLAs

Asserting his hold over the party, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde wrote to Maharashtra deputy speaker Narahari Jirwal on Wednesday disputing his ouster as group leader of the Sena legislature party. He argued that the resolution to remove him was invalid since the meeting was attended by only 16 of the 55 MLAs.

Facing the threat of losing majority in Maharashtra assembly after a rebellion in the ranks, Shiv Sena has indicated that it might recommend the dissolution of the assembly. However, such a recommendation will remain just that; a recommendation. For, Supreme Court judgments mandate the governor in such situations to give chance to a party which stakes claim to form the government.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday took a jibe at Congress over its decision to depute senior party leader Kamal Nath as All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer in Maharashtra amid its political crisis. "Congress is counting its last moments," the Chief Minister said while addressing a public rally in Ujjain. He asked the Congress leadership how Kamal Nath will save the Maharashtra government when he could not save his own government in Madhya Pradesh.

The intra-party uprising in Shiv Sena underscores CM Uddhav Thackeray's failure to convince Shiv Sainiks that his version of soft Hindutva, vis-a-vis BJP's aggressive edition, will be acceptable to the party's loyal voters, said observers on Wednesday.

BJP leaders are treading cautiously amidst the crisis precipitated within the Maha Vikas Aghadi. While news channels have aired footage showing opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis’s associates Sanjay Kute and Mohit Kambhoj accompanying the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs in Surat and Guwahati, the state leadership has chosen to deny all involvement in providing support to the dissidents.Reacting to CM Uddhav Thackeray’s speech offering to step down, BJP state president Chandrakant Patil said his party has “nothing to do” with what’s transpiring in Sena. Observers said the wariness stems from past experience when overenthusiasm to form a government landed BJP in an embarrassing situation. Fadnavis was sworn in along with NCP’s Ajit Pawar in a hastily arranged early morning ceremony, but the government could not prove its majority and lasted barely 80 hours.

Asserting his hold over the party, Eknath Shinde wrote to Maharashtra deputy speaker Narahari Jirwal on Wednesday disputing his ouster as group leader of the Shiv Sena legislature party. He argued that the resolution to remove him was invalid since the meeting was attended by only 16 of the 55 MLAs.

The intra-party uprising in Shiv Sena underscores CM Uddhav Thackeray's failure to convince Shiv Sainiks that his version of soft Hindutva, vis-a-vis BJP's aggressive edition, will be acceptable to the party's loyal voters, said observers on Wednesday. In a hurry to keep BJP away from power, Thackeray teamed up with Maharashtra's secular forces after the 2019 state assembly elections without sparing a thought for Marathi voters, many of who have for over three decades been weaned on Balasaheb Thackeray's Hindutva rhetoric.