MVA in trouble as Eknath Shinde and some MLAs go incommunicado, camp in Surat

The Uddhav Thackerayled government in Maharashtra appears to be in crisis after Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde and some MLAs of his party have gone incommunicado and camping in Surat a day after suspected crossvoting in MLC polls putting a question mark on the stability of the MVA dispensationAs Shinde is yet to spell out his stand Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil ruled out any link of his party to the ongoing political developments but also said the BJP would definitely consider a proposal if it comes from Shinde to form a governmentSpeaking in Delhi NCP chief Sharad Pawar said there is an attempt to pull down the Maharashtra government which he said is happening for the third timeHe also said that Uddhav Thackeray will handle the situation which is an internal matter of the SenaSome MLAs of Shiv Sena and Eknath Shinde are currently not reachable Efforts are being made to topple the MVA government but BJP has to remember that Maharashtra is very different from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut pictwittercomcDUFjfm9pfmdash ANI ANI June 21 2022I have heard that our MLAs are in Surat Gujarat and they are not being allowed to leave But they will certainly return as all of them are dedicated to Shiv Sena I trust that all our MLAs will return and everything will be fine he addedSanjay Raut said that the party is in touch with their MLAs in Surat We are in touch with our MLAs who are in Surat now We are discussing the situation with Uddhav Thackeray Ji and Pawar Sahib Those working with the thought that they are kingmakers will be unsuccessful he saidWe are in touch with our MLAs who are in Surat now We are discussing the situation with Uddhav Thackeray Ji and Pawar Sahib Those working with the thought that they are kingmakers will be unsuccessful Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Rautmdash ANI ANI June 21 2022In the 288member Maharashtra Assembly Shiv Sena has 55 MLAS NCP 53 Congress 44 Bahujan Vikas Agahdi three Samajwadi Party AIMIM and Prahar Janshakti Party two each MNS CPIM PWP Swabhimani Paksha Rashtriya Samaj Party Jansurajya Shakti Party and Krantikari Shetkari Paksha have one MLA eachThere are 13 independent MLAsThe opposition BJP has 106 MLAsLeaders of NCP and Congress the other constituents of the MVA however asserted that there is no threat to the stability of the state governmentAs Sena struggled to quell the unrest party MP Sanjay Raut claimed that contact has been established with Shinde who he described as a iquestloyal Shiv Sainik of Balasaheb ThackerayThe sudden disappearance of Shinde and some party MLAs prompted Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to call an urgent meeting with party legislators and leaders at Varsha his official residence in MumbaiThe exact number of MLAs camping with Shinde is not clear but many legislators of Sena have gone incommunicadoSenior NCP leader and state minister Chhagan Bhujbal told PTI that MLAs of his party are intactBhujbal and state Congress leader Nana Patole ruled out any threat to the MVA governmentCongress minister Balasaheb Thorat said his party is closely watching the developments in the Shiv Sena and they have spoken to the chief minister If needed a meeting of the MVA will be held he saidThorat also said that all Congress MLAs have been asked to stay put in MumbaiThe development comes hours after MVA suffered a setback in the Legislative Council polls results for which were announced on Monday nightIn the polls the BJP managed to win all the five seats it had contested though it had votes to win four candidates The Sena and NCP won two seats each Congress suffered a jolt as one of its two nominees lostA Shiv Sena leader said Shinde was present at Vidhan Bhavan on Monday till around 5 pm along with CM ThackerayAccording to sources Shinde and some other Shiv Sena MLAs are camping at a hotel in Gujarats Surat cityThe MLAs reportedly unhappy with the Sena leadership arrived in Surat on Monday night and are camping at the Le Meridian Hotel they saidSome Shiv Sena MLAs including Maharashtra minister Eknath Shinde are in Surat a source saidA large number of police personnel have been deployed outside the hotelLater Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said Shinde is not in Mumbai but communication has been established with himA Congress minister said Shinde has been restless for the past week and claimed that Sena leader wanted the deputy chief ministers postShinde a senior minister in the Sena government wields considerable influence in the satellite cities of MumbaiMeanwhile the police have increased security outside his private residence in ThaneRaut blamed the BJP for the current political situation He also said that BJPs attempts like in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to topple the MVA government will not succeedMeanwhile Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told PTI The BJP has nothing to do with the Shinde episode However if the BJP receives any proposal fromEknath Shinde to form a government we would definitely consider it seriously After all we all have worked together in the past hence it is much better to work and run a government with themPatil alleged Sanjay Raut was responsible for the frosty relations between the Sena and the BJPHe Raut is also doing a lot of damage to the stateand he is doing it on someones behalf the BJP leader further claimedThe Shiv Sena had snapped ties with its longterm ally BJP after the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly polls over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post The Sena later tied up with the NCP and Congress to form government in the stateUnion minister and BJP Rajya Sabha member Narayan Rane came out openly in support of Eknath ShindeWell done Eknathji you took the right decision at the appropriate time Otherwise soon you would have ended up like Anand Digheiquest Rane tweetedDighe the Shiv Sena leader from Thane had died in 2001With inputs from PTI and ANI