Shiv Sena rebel faction’s leader Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said he will be returning to Mumbai after camping in Guwahati since last week, NDTV reported.
“I have 50 people with me in Guwahati, they have come of their own accord and for Hindutva,” Shinde told reporters. “We all will go to Mumbai soon.”
He said that the MLAs have joined him voluntarily, ANI reported.
“No MLA is suppressed here, everyone here is happy,” he said. “MLAs are with us. If Shiv Sena says that the MLAs present here are in contact with them, they should reveal the names.”
There is speculation that Shinde is going to Mumbai to stake his claim to power. He may also discuss with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari a possibility of a floor test in the state Assembly.
A governor can call for a floor test if a government in power loses the confidence of the House. The chief minister is then asked to prove the majority in the Assembly.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led government is currently in the middle of a political crisis that began when Shinde went to Surat with a group of rebel MLAs on June 21. He is now camping with them at a hotel in Guwahati.
The rebel MLAs want the Shiv Sena to break its alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
On Saturday, the faction led by Shinde had named itself Shiv Sena Balasaheb after party founder Bal Thackeray. The Shiv Sena subsequently passed a resolution saying that no one will be allowed to use the name of Bal Thackeray to form a new group.
The Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal has served disqualification notices to 16 rebel legislators.
But the Supreme Court on Monday granted them relief and asked the rebel MLAs to file responses to their disqualification notices by July 12. Zirwal had sought their response by Monday evening.
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