Maharashtra, June 22: Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Raut Wednesday, hinted at dissolving the Maharashtra Assembly. The statement comes amid the ongoing political crisis in the state since the declaration of the Legislative Council poll results on Monday.
“The ongoing political crisis in Maharashtra is heading to the dissolution of Vidhan Sabha,” Raut tweeted in Marathi today.
Raut’s tweet comes hours after Sena rebel Eknath Shinde said that he has the support of more than 40 MLAs. Shinde along with 33 Shiv Sena and seven independent MLAs is lodging in a hotel in Guwahati, Assam.
Shinde with the support of 40 strong lawmakers has been threatening to break away from the ruling coalition in Maharashtra.
On Monday evening, Shinde and other MLAs took a charter plane to Gujarat and stayed in a hotel in Surat before leaving for Guwahati early on Wednesday. They left Mumbai after cross-voting in Maharashtra Legislative Council (MLC) polls.
Raut calls Shinde ‘A friend’:
Talking to the media earlier in the day, Raut called Shinde Sena’s “very old party member and friend”.
“We’ve worked together for decades. It’s neither easy for him nor for us to leave each other. I had a conversation with him for an hour this morning and the party chief was intimated about it,” Raut said.
He further informed that talks are underway with MLAs who are with Shinde. “Everybody will stay in Shiv Sena. Our party is a fighter, we will struggle consistently, at most we might lose power but we’ll continue to fight,” he added.
For MVA, it’s one of its worst crises since coming into existence in 2019, putting an uncertainty on the stability of the two-and-a-half-year-old government.
The number game:
The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-Assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.
There is one vacancy due to the death of a Sena MLA last month. The current strength of the Maharashtra Assembly is 287. Fifteen independent legislators and MLAs from smaller parties support the MVA government, taking the number to 167.
The BJP has 106 MLAs of its own and is backed by one lawmaker each from the Raj Thackeray-led MNS, the Swabhimani Paksh, the Rashtriya Samaj Paksh, the Jan Surajya Party, and six independents, taking its tally with allies to 116.
Negotiation efforts from Sena:
Thackeray had also sent two of his party leaders to meet and hold a detailed discussion with Shinde and other MLAs in Surat on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Shiv Sena removed Shinde as its Legislative party leader. He was replaced by Sewri MLA Ajay Chaudhary. The decision was taken at the meeting convened by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray today at his Varsha residence.
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