While several Maharashtra BJP leaders started praising Eknath Shinde, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said the party is in touch with Shinde and he will come back.
Mumbai: A day after the BJP won five of the 10 seats in the Legislative Council polls despite lacking numbers, on Tuesday, senior Shiv Sena MLA and minister Eknath Shinde reportedly went incommunicado along with 20 other Shiv Sena MLAs. According to sources, he is now in Gujarat.
While several Maharashtra BJP leaders started praising him for his “right decision”, Shiv Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said the party is in touch with Shinde and he will come back.
The number game
In the 288-seat Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, the BJP has 106 MLAs and had polled 133 votes. The additional votes had come to its folds from other parties and Independent MLAs. However, BJP is still short of 12 MLAs from reaching the majority mark in the Assembly.
BJP’s Pravin Derekar said, “Whatever is right for the people of Maharashtra will be done. Their interest is more important than power. If needed for the sake of the state, BJP will soon stake claims to form the government in Maharashtra.”
Shinde, who has said he will address the media in the afternoon to apprise on the crisis, has been elected consecutively for four terms in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly — 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. His victory in 2014 had also led the party to make him the legislative party leader and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly.
According to sources, Shinde was unhappy with the party for allegedly being sidelined. Shinde had recently accompanied Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray to Ayodhya.
Meanwhile, Union minister Narayan Rane tweeted, “Well done Eknathji, you have made the right decision at the right time.”
The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government may be in trouble in Maharashtra if Eknath Shinde does not return to the party. On Monday, as many as 11 Shiv Sena MLAs had cross-voted in favour of BJP.
