Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19 amid an unfolding political crisis in the state, ANI reported.
Congress leader Kamal Nath told reporters in Mumbai that he was scheduled to meet Thackeray on Wednesday afternoon but will not do so as he has tested positive for the coronavirus. On Tuesday, the Congress appointed Nath as an observer for Maharashtra after state minister Eknath Shinde went to Surat along with several Shiv Sena leaders and Independents, putting the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in doubt.
Thackeray, however, attended a Maharashtra Cabinet meeting through video conferencing at 1 pm on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Koshiyari said that he has mild symptoms of Covid-19, but that he has been admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.
Earlier on Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut remarked that the developments in the state were heading towards the dissolution of the state Assembly.
Eknath Shinde has claimed that he has the support of 40 MLAs. The Maharashtra minister along with a group of MLAs threatening to break away from the ruling coalition in the state reached Guwahati from Surat on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, Shinde had said in a tweet that he would never cheat for power.
“Balasaheb has taught us Hindutva,” he added. “We have never and will never cheat for power regarding Balasaheb’s thoughts and [late Shiv Sena leader from Thane] Dharmaveer Anand Dighe Saheb’s teachings.”
Political crisis in Maharashtra
The Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra is an alliance of the Shiv Sena which has 55 MLAs, the Nationalist Congress Party with 53 MLAs and the Congress with 44 MLAs. Some of the 29 MLAs from smaller parties and those who got elected as Independents also support the alliance, pushing its strength to 169 in the 288-member Assembly.
However, if Shinde and his supporters decide to leave the alliance, there may be a threat to the state government.
Shinde and his supporters went untraceable a day after the BJP won all five of the Maharashtra Legislative Council seats that it contested.
Five candidates of the ruling alliance in Maharashtra also won, but one lost out to the BJP.
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