Shiv Sena hopeful of ghar wapsi, but rebels firm on demand

Though rocked by the revolt of Shiv Sena strongman Eknath Shinde and several party MLAs who escaped to neighbouring Gujarat on Tuesday the Shiv Sena remained hopeful of their return The CM is said to have told his men that Shinde was coming back to the Senarsquos fold but the latterrsquos supporters said not until the party once again joins hands with the BJPThe Maha Vikas Aghadi government was in for a rude shock on Tuesday morning when minister Shinde threatened the collapse of the government by claiming the support of several party MLAs The partyrsquos group leader in the Assembly escaped to Surat with at least 22 members of the legislature last nightWhile Shindersquos supporters claimed he has at least 40 MLAs sufficient for forming a separate group without getting disqualified Sena said the number did not exceed 16 The party workers protested at Sena Bhavan and vowed to teach lsquobetrayersrsquo a lessonMP modelA shocked Sena blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the revolt and accused it of trying to implement the Madhya Pradesh pattern in Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackerayrsquos personal secretary Milind Narvekar and other Sena members reach Le Meridien hotel in Surat on Tuesday PicPradeep GohilTo Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray Shinde has posed a condition for returning to the party fold Sena should snap ties with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress and form a government with the BJP He has a Hindutva premise to press for his demand but there are several other reasons for his mutiny The urban development minister has been feeling sidetracked in the partyShindersquos dramatic escape came after the Senarsquos slender win in the MLC polls on Monday The partyrsquos several MLAs and associates crossvoted in the elections that saw the BJPrsquos extra candidate winning and a Congress nominee going down In the Rajya Sabha polls about 10 days ago the Sena lost one of its two candidates in a closely fought battle The BJP has attributed the Senarsquos defeats to unrest within the party and sensed an opportunity for a comeback through Shindersquos mutinylsquoHe will returnrsquoHowever Thackeray on Tuesday afternoon told his lsquoremainingrsquo party MLAs and leaders that he spoke with Shinde over the phone and he was returningldquoShinde will come back Therersquos nothing about you and me He knows how we suffered when we were with the BJP How can we get back to square onerdquo the CM is said to have told the gathering Shindersquos supporters claimed he refused to return if his demand was not met Thackeray had sent his personal secretary Milind Narvekar and Shindersquos MLC friend Ravindra Phakat to Surat with his message The two returned after meeting with him BJPrsquos Sanjay Kute and Girish Mahajan also met Shinde but the party said it was an individual initiative and not prompted by the leadership Later in the evening Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve met Shinde at a Surat hotelHigh security outside the hotel in Surat Gujarat where rebel Sena MLAs are stayingEarlier Thackeray did not spare Shinde for indiscipline sacking him from the legislative party leaderrsquos position Shindersquos supporters said he has objected to the action and would continue to hold his post because he has the support of more MLAs than ThackerayMeanwhile Shinde tweeted that he was an ardent follower of Hindutva that was propagated by Sena founder Balasaheb Thackeray and his mentor Anand Dighe It was a clear indication that he preferred undiluted Hindutva against the Senarsquos new Hindutva He also removed his Senarelated information from his social media bioAs Thackeray tried to douse the fire his alliance partners watched the development with concern and committed their support However NCP boss Sharad Pawar played down the episode by calling it ldquothe Senarsquos internal matter which will be resolved with discussionsrdquo He said there was rebellion when the MVA government was formed but the action was tamed ldquoWe will present our position after the Sena tells us its ownrdquo he added When asked if the NCP would join hands with the BJP in case the MVA government dissolves he said his party would rather sit in the Opposition Pawar said he did not know that Shinde wanted to be the CM ldquoIt has to be decided by the Sena As of now Uddhav Thackeray is the CM There is no need to change thatrdquo he addedSena hopefulSena spokesperson Sanjay Raut was hopeful of patching up with Shinde and others ldquoWe know the reasons for their action They are under pressure from the BJP But all of them are die hard sainiks and they will returnrdquo he said accusing the BJP of engineering the whole thingldquoThe BJP is trying Operation Lotus here like it did in MP and Rajasthan but it will fail Some MLAs have been assaulted Many MLAs want to return from Surat but are not allowed by the Gujarat police and the BJPrdquo he said adding that the Thackeray government will prove its majority on the floor of the HouseUnaffected by the accusations the BJP preferred to wait and watch ldquoItrsquos Sena internal matter It proves the unrest in the Sena and the MVA as wellrdquo said Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil He said the BJP hadnrsquot received any proposal from Shinde ldquoBut if any proposal comes we will consider itrdquo he addedOpposition leader Devendra Fadnavis left for Delhi immediately after the newsbreak and met senior party leaders and the high commandThe Sena had split in the past as well the first major blow was Chhaga Bhujbalrsquos exit with nine MLAs in 1991 He joined the Congress at the Nagpur winter session Antidefection laws did not exist then In 2005 Narayan Rane quit Sena with 11 MLAs and the same year the party hit a further low when one of the ThackeraysRajleft the partyIn less than 48 hrsgtgt Monday afternoon Denied entry to CMrsquos office during MLC polls Eknath Shinde waits in his cargtgt Monday evening Shinde gathers MLAs and dines with them at his official residence Shinde along with MLAs leaves for Surat in two batches in secretgtgt Monday night Sena leadership senses trouble and CM Uddhav Thackeray calls senior leaders to his official residence Party workers from Thane are also summoned Home minister confers with the CMgtgt Tuesday early morning Shinde and MLAs found at a Surat hotel Gujarat police secure the hotel as mediapersons throng it Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis leaves for Delhigtgt Tuesday afternoon CM meets party leaders and MLAs in the city while his representatives leave for Surat to talk to Shinde Meanwhile two BJP MLAs also meet Shindegtgt Tuesday evening CM tries to convince Shinde over a phone call but Shinde insists on restoring ties with the BJP Shindersquos supporters claim he has 40 MLAs with him Three MVA parties meetgtgt Late Tuesday night Airlifted from Surat to Guwahati in Assam40No of MLAsrsquo support Shinde clan claims he has